On April 14-15, 2023, the UArizona James E. Rogers College of Law and Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, in partnership with Harvard Law School, University of Oxford Faculty of Law, the American Law Institute, and the Journal of Tort Law, hosted a symposium titled “The Great Torts Cases of the 21st Century: Are Canonical Torts Decisions a Thing of the Past?” The event was a resounding success, bringing together legal scholars, judges, and justices from across America and abroad to explore the most significant tort cases of the 21st century and address the continued importance of contemporary judges in shaping new common law.
The symposium featured a roster of distinguished speakers who brought unique perspectives and insights to the program, engaging in panel discussions on recent common law tort cases and great common law judicial opinions of our time. Participants included:
Roderick Bagshaw, Oxford Law Faculty
Hon. Thomas Balmer, Oregon Supreme Court
Jane Bambauer, Arizona Law
Hon. Clint Bolick, Arizona Supreme Court
Molly Brady, Harvard Law
Ellen M. Bublick, Arizona Law
Jonathan Cardi, Wake Forest Law
Hon. Laura Denvir Stith, Supreme Court of Missouri
Hon. Todd Eddins, Hawaii Supreme Court
Nora Engstrom, Stanford Law School
John Goldberg, Harvard Law
James Goudkamp, Oxford Law Faculty
Betsy Grey, Arizona State University Law
Christopher L. Griffin, Jr., Arizona Law
Hon Andrew Hurwitz, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Gregory Keating, USC Gould School of Law
Thomas Merrill, Columbia Law
Shefali Milczarek-Desai, Arizona Law
Donal Nolan, Oxford Law Faculty
Robert Rabin, Stanford Law School
Sandy Steel, Oxford Law Faculty
Catherine M. Sharkey, NYU School of Law
Henry E. Smith, Harvard Law
Jane Stapleton, Oxford Law Faculty Emerita
James Stern, William & Mary Law School
Sarah Swan, Rutgers Law School
Hon. Ann Timmer, Vice Chief Justice, Arizona Supreme Court
Alfred Yen, Boston College Law School
Benjamin Zipursky, Fordham Law
This symposium is the first in a series of collaborative initiatives between the Rogers College of Law and Freedom Center to engage judges and legal scholars in fruitful discussions on significant issues
Dan B. Dobbs Professor of Law Ellen M. Bublick and Freedom Center Associate Director and Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science, Saura Masconale welcomed the symposium attendees. Bublick remarked that Arizona Law was honored to host an event in which “the engaged and varied perspectives of judges, as well as insights from abroad, deepened dialogue about possibilities and challenges for tort law’s future.”
Masconale shared Bublick’s enthusiasm, adding that co-sponsoring the Great Tort Cases Symposium was a “natural choice” for the Freedom Center. “The Center is an incubator for interdisciplinary research and critical thinking about freedom, responsibility, and human behavior. And I think tort law is essential for our liberty – as the framework that safeguards our individual rights and ensure we can all exercise our autonomy without violating the rights and freedoms of others.”
The Journal of Tort Law will publish the symposium’s paper in the 2023 Spring and Fall editions.
For more information on this event and other Freedom Center and Rogers College of Law collaborations, please contact Saura Masconale at masconale@arizona.edu.