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4 St. Louis U. L.J. 424 (1956-1957)
The Wife's Action for Loss of Consortium - Progress or No

handle is hein.journals/stlulj4 and id is 432 raw text is: The Wife's Action for Loss of Consortium- Progress or No? JOSEPH J. SIMEONE* Through the years the common law has prided itself upon its flexibility in meeting new situations and in cham- pioning new rights in the light of existing social conditions. If we trace the development of remedies, e.g., aurnprit, this flexibility is clearly reflected.' The bold path taken by the judiciary is manifested in the decisions creating new rights,' in the never ending struggle between precedent and the changing needs of society.3 The process is 'logic, and history, and custom, and utility, and the accepted standards of right conduct, . . . which singly or in combination shape the progress of the law.'4 The work is nowhere completed. In the area of domestic relations much is being done in the creation of new rights. In these modern days when human rights are on the tongues and in the hearts and minds of men,' the judiciary has been moved to re-examine many old pr6blenis in this area - the wife's action for loss of consortium; torts be- tween spouses; the right of the child to recover damages for injuries sustained in the womb; the child's right to damages for alienation of affections of the parent. These are but a few of the blazed trails. To discuss one aspect of these developments - the wife's loss of consortium, and more particularly the impact of the Iia,' ffer decision, the first significant case to a 'ard damages for loss of consortium - is the purpose of Lhis paper. *Professor of Law, Saint Louis University. 1. AMiES, LECTURES ON LEGAL HISTORY 149 (1913). 2. Pasley v. Freeman, 3 Term. Rep. 51, 100 Eng. Rep. 450 (1789); Davies v. Mann, 10 IN1. & W. 546, 152 Eng. Rep. 588 (1842); Lumley v. Gye, 2 El. & B1. 216. 118 Eng. Rep. 749 (1853). 3. POUND, TnE SPIRIT OF TiE CO.IrION LAW 182 (1921). 4. CARDOZO, TIlE NATURE OF THE JUDICIAL PROCESS 112 (1921). 5. Brown v. Ga.-Tenn. Coaches, Inc., 88 Ga.App. 519, 77 S.E.2d 24, 32 (1953). 6. Hitaffer v. Argonne Co., Inc., 183 F.2d 811 (D.C.Cir. 1950).

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