Tort Law Meets Administrative Law Meets a Killer Whale

A tragic accident occurred in Seaworld, Orlando in 2010. A trainer interacting with Tilikum, a killer whale, was dragged underwater and killed. An investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority ensued. Seaworld was found to have violated the duty to provide a safe workplace and lost its challenge to the order made pursuant to this finding: Seaworld v. Perez (D.C. Circuit).

The Relationship between Public Law and the Law of Nuisance: Coventry v. Lawrence, [2014] UKSC 13

The UK Supreme Court decided an important case on the law of nuisance last week: Coventry v. Lawrence, [2014] UKSC 13. One of the many important issues was whether planning permission is a defence to an action in nuisance.

How to Avoid "Tortifying" Regulatory Law: A.I. Enterprises Ltd. v. Bram Enterprises Ltd., 2014 SCC 12

The Supreme Court of Canada this morning waded into the mire of the "economic torts", a grab bag of common law causes of action that impose liability for (primarily) nasty behaviour in the marketplace. Up for discussion in A.I. Enterprises Ltd. v. Bram Enterprises Ltd., 2014 SCC 12 was the "unlawful means" tort, though as Cromwell J. pointed out, the economic torts form such a morass that courts and commentators cannot even identify the appropriate label for this particular creature (at para. 2).