Palsgraf Revisited (Again)

[Excerpt] “A funny thing happened at the 2005 meeting of the American Law Institute in Philadelphia. With hardly a thought as to the profundity—and probable futility—of its act, the assemblage bulldozed one of the enduring nuggets of common law wisdom to the pile of discarded relics of legal history. Apart from those in personal injury work, most lawyers won’t remember too many specifics about their first year law school torts courses. But if I had to bet on a single common law judicial opinion that is likely to stimulate a flicker of recognition in many memories—by specifying common law, I mean to muscle aside Marbury v. Madison by definition—my money would be on Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co.