About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

30 Ark. L. Rev. 288 (1976-1977)
Negligent Entrustment Revisited: Developments 1966-1976

handle is hein.journals/arklr30 and id is 320 raw text is: Negligent Entrustment Revisited: Developments 1966-76 Henry Woods* Negligent Entrustment: Evaluation of a Frequently Over- looked Source of Additional Liability,1 written by the present author and published in this law review in 1966, provided a broad incisive analysis into this much neglected area of tort liability. This article has been frequently cited by the courts and has been described as a trenchant discussion of this corner of the law.2 The author now brings this article to date. EXTENSION OF THE DOCTRINE An interesting Federal tort claim case, Williams v. U.S.,3 was decided by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1965. There an infantry sergeant at Fort Benning had inadvertently carried home an M-80 Firecracker. These devices were used in field exercises to simulate the sound of grenades, mortar shells and other exploding weapons. Although it has the appearance of an ordinary firecracker, it is a much more powerful explosive. All unused M-80's were supposed to be returned to the supply depot, but the sergeant inadvertently left two in his field jacket. These were placed in a cigar box in a dresser drawer at his off- base home and forgotten. He was sent overseas but his wife remained in Georgia. Plaintiff, a 13-year-old baby sitter, saw the box and inquired of the wife about its contents. The wife opened the box and gave plaintiff one of the M-80's. Thinking it was an ordinary firecracker, he lit the fuse and was severely injured in the ensuing explosion. The U.S. District Judge dis- missed the plaintiff's case but the Court of Appeals reversed. Judge Wisdom's opinion pointed out that there were two basic theories under which the government could be held respon- * Member of the firm of McMath, Leatherman & Woods; Little Rock, Arkansas. 1. 20 ARK. L. REv. 101 (1966). This article was based on a lecture on negligent entrustment presented by the writer at the 1966 annual meeting of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. 2. Lambert, Comment on Williams v. U.S., 352 F.2d 477 (5th Cir. 1965), 32 AM. TRIAL LAw. J. 183, 193 (1968). 3. Williams v. United States, 352 F.2d 477 (5th Cir. 1965).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most