Professor Jennifer Robbennolt, the Alice Curtis Campbell Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, has published a new book, The Psychology of Tort Law, with New York University Press.

Co-authored with Valerie P. Hans, Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, the book sheds light on the psychological dynamics of the tort system.

From the publisher:

Tort law regulates most human activities: from driving a car to using consumer products to providing or receiving medical care. Injuries caused by dog bites, slips and falls, fender benders, bridge collapses, adverse reactions to a medication, bar fights, oil spills, and more all implicate the law of torts. The rules and procedures by which tort cases are resolved engage deeply-held intuitions about justice, causation, intentionality, and the obligations that we owe to one another. Tort rules and procedures also generate significant controversy—most visibly in political debates over tort reform.

The Psychology of Tort Law explores tort law through the lens of psychological science. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research and their own experiences teaching and researching tort law, Jennifer K. Robbennolt and Valerie P. Hans examine the psychological assumptions that underlie doctrinal rules. They explore how tort law influences the behavior and decision-making of potential plaintiffs and defendants, examining how doctors and patients, drivers, manufacturers and purchasers of products, property owners, and others make decisions against the backdrop of tort law. They show how the judges and jurors who decide tort claims are influenced by psychological phenomena in deciding cases. And they reveal how plaintiffs, defendants, and their attorneys resolve tort disputes in the shadow of tort law.

The book is available in both print and electronic versions, and can be ordered on Amazon.com and the NYU Press website.

Jennifer Robbennolt is the Alice Curtis Campbell Professor of Law and a Professor of Psychology, and the Co-Director of the Illinois Program on Law, Behavior, and Social Science. Professor Robbennolt’s research integrates psychology into the study of law and legal institutions, particularly in the areas of torts and dispute resolution.