Torts

While the last several years have witnessed significant change in the field of tort law, viewed as advancement by some and regression by others, 1985 was a relatively stable year, at least in the courtroom. With a sometimes real, sometimes imagined, crisis in the liability insurance field, the drive to change, reform, improve, and re-package the law of civil wrongs has been in full swing. A myriad of legislative proposals followed a continued public debate, fueled by high pressure advertising campaigns, about the societal cost of the common law tort system. Local governments threatened to close parks and police departments; doctors issued their perennial warnings about the looming shortage of practitioners, all of the good ones supposedly having flown away to low-litigation areas. The enactment of some measures, whether reform or not, will affect tort practice in this state during the coming Survey year. The changes wrought will be examined in next year\u27s Survey