Object structure
PLMET:

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Title:

The character of tort law in American and Polish systems as exemplified by frivolous lawsuits

Abstract:

Even among the lawyers the American tort law results in false assumptions. There are many popular misconceptions concerning this law system and especially the amounts of awarded damages. The awarded damages reaching millions of dollars have become legendary and many trials have become the objects of jokes. Moreover, there is a belief that American tort law is immeasurably different from Polish delicts. The key issue of this paper is the analysis of certain premises of American tort law and rebuttal of stereotypes. The study is concerned with the Liebeck v. McDonald’s case, commonly referred to as the “spilt coffee case”. The author considers the course of the legal proceeding and the fact that the media gave color to the truth of this case. The American media coined the phrase of frivolous lawsuits, i.e. the cases where plaintiffs are trying to extort money from big corporations by filling the lawsuits originating from frivolous reasons. In the Liebeck case, the plaintiff gained the punitive damages, which is an unknown institution in the civil law system. The punitive damages are very rarely judged in American courts and the existence of this institution is the main difference between the Polish and American tort systems. Besides that, the author aims to prove that there are more similarities than differences and that the main basis of torts and delicts is the same in both countries.

Place of publishing:

Wrocław

Publisher:

E-Wydawnictwo. Prawnicza i Ekonomiczna Biblioteka Cyfrowa. Wydział Prawa, Administracji i Ekonomii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego

Date issued:

2013

Detailed Type:

journal

Format:

application/pdf

Identifier:

ISSN 2299-8322

Language:

pol   eng

WUL Catalog:

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Is part of:

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Is referenced by:

www.fiw.prawo.uni.wroc.pl

Is replaced by:

Folia Iuridica Universitatis Wratislaviensis

Rights holder:

Copyright by Karolina Trzeciak

Location of original object:

Library of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics

Autor opisu:

WR U/PAdjm   TK