Judge and Jury: American Tort Law on Trial

My new book, Judge and Jury: American Tort Law on Trial is now out.  Click on the ad at right for more information.  Written with Eric Helland, Judge and Jury brings together in a popular format much of my research from the past few years on the effect on tort awards of elected judges, jury composition and contingency fees as well as other topics.

Here are some early comments on the book:

"In their pioneering book, Judge and Jury, Helland and Tabarrok are relentless in their pursuit of hard data to explain the behavior of the American jury. On a topic on which it is easy to become hyperbolic, their dispassionate analysis of the effects of race and poverty on jury behavior is a model for all intelligent discussion of legal reform. The authors are to be commended for the way in which they confirm some deep-seated perceptions of runaway juries while debunking other claims that do not survive their rigorous empirical scrutiny."
  --Richard A. Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School

"All too often, the proponents of tort reform have relied upon anecdote rather than analysis or empirical study to support their claims. In contrast, Judge and Jury offers solid economic analysis and empirical study of some very important issues.] Helland and Tabarrok show that the resolution of a tort claim can importantly depend upon where the claim is filed, due to differences in jury composition and whether judges are elected or appointed. They also make a convincing case that the root of all evils does not lie in contingency fees for plaintiffs’ lawyers, as many reformers insist. The book should be of great interest to anyone interest in the U.S. tort system."
  --Mark Geistfeld, Crystal Eastman Professor of Law,
New York University School of Law

"Clear, forcefully argued and highly accessible, Judge and Jury makes the perfect introduction to the work of two of today’s most provocative and talked-about empirical legal scholars."
—Walter K. Olson, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute