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5 J. High Tech. L. 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/jhtl5 and id is 1 raw text is: Foreword to the Thomas F. Lambert, Jr., Symposium Issue on Sophisticated New Tort Theories Michael L. Rustad Cite as: 5 J. High Tech. L. 1 (2005) Despite the raven croaking of contemporary Cassandras that Tort is Dead or at least gone over the horizon, it might be closer to the truth to recall the insight of a recent commencement speaker. I have, he said, some good news and some bad news. First, the bad: The world is coming to an end. Now the good: Not soon. Not necessarily. Even if a prophecy of such robust hope should prove vain, it is enough to recall and cling to the craftsman's motto on the statute of Sisyphus: One need not have hope in order to persevere. Thomas F. Lambert Jr.2 The future of tort law is somewhat murky in this first decade of the twenty-first century. Tort reform is President Bush's number one domestic priority, and his goal is to nationalize tort law by placing federal limits on products liability and medical malpractice remedies. In Texas, then Governor-elect George W. Bush spearheaded a tort reform bill to prevent frivolous and junk lawsuits, which included a $200,000 cap on punitive damages.3 As I write this Foreword to the Thomas F. Lambert, Jr., Symposium issue, a coalition of tort reformers is again using the specter of a medical liability crisis to gain popular support for limitations on remedies for ordinary Americans. The U.S. Senate is considering federalizing medical 1. Thomas F. Lambert Jr. Professor of Law & Co-Director of Intellectual Property Law Concentration Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts. 2. Thomas F. Lambert, Jr., Law in the Future Part II-Tort Law: 2003, TRIAL, July 1983, at 96. 3. R.G. Ratcliffe, Bush Proposes Tort Reform; Says His Plan Would Prevent Junk Lawsuits, HOUSTON CHRON., June 18, 1994, at 30. (1) Copyright C 2005 Michael L. Rustad. All Rights Reserved. ISSN 1536-7983

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