Susan Healy On the Story Behind Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. @TheFlaBar
We have long thought that the pedagogical tradition of reading appellate opinions in law school classes sucks all the fun and some of the educational value out of using cases as source material. Consider this account of the story behind Palgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. (169 N.E. 99 (N. Y. 1928), the ruling that many of us read in Torts class. Susan Healy makes Mrs. Palsgraf’s story and what happened to her after the decision vivid and brings home the results of appellate judging divorced from the events, exactly what many people are complaining about today.