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

82 Notre Dame L. Rev. 881 (2006-2007)
The Law of Premises Liability in America: Its Past, Present, and Some Considerations for Its Future

handle is hein.journals/tndl82 and id is 889 raw text is: THE LAW OF PREMISES LIABILITY IN AMERICA: ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR ITS FUTURE Robert S. Driscoll* INTRODUCTION In 1968, the California Supreme Court took what was a relatively stable area of the law, that of premises liability, and thrust it into the national legal debate over the nature of the tort system.' Whereas the state courts had up until Rowland v. Christian2 followed a system of liability deeply rooted in the common law, California's decision sig- naled a new direction for the ownership of land. The traditional sys- tem had defined landowner duties based on the status of the entrant; assigning higher duties to those there by consent and lower duties to those who trespassed.3 The Rowland standard, however, essentially re- moved this special protection for landowners from the normal rules of negligence and imposed a standard of reasonable care, only consider- ing the status of the entrant as one of many factors in making the determination.4 What was once a fairly uniform system across the states became fractured as some courts followed Rowland,5 others re- jected it,6 and still others sought a middle ground.7 Further, in some * Candidate for Juris Doctor, Notre Dame Law School, 2007; M.P., University of Dallas, 2004; B.A., Hillsdale College, 2003. 1 would like to thank Professor Eric Claeys for his guidance and advice throughout the whole note-writing process. I am also grateful to the staff of the Notre Dame Law Review, who did an excellent job in reviewing and editing the piece. Finally, I'd like to thank my wife, Kathy for all her love, support, and patience during my time in law school. 1 Rowland v. Christian, 443 P.2d 561 (Cal. 1968). 2 Id. 3 See infra Part I.A. 4 See infra Part I.B. 5 See infra note 46. 6 See infra note 63. 7 See infra note 64.

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