Is the Legal Doctrine of ‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’ Losing Its Voice?
The Anglo-American legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself) began with an 1863 English case when a pedestrian was struck by a barrel of flour falling while being lowered from the upper floors of a warehouse that was entirely occupied by the defendant. The plaintiff could not present evidence of precisely how the defendant was negligent. Nevertheless, the plaintiff won his lawsuit under a presumption of negligence when the defendant failed to provide an explanation for the event (Byrne v. Boadle) Moving forward to 2015, U.S. courts are reluctant to dispense with a plaintiff proving precisely how...
Continue reading