Economics
Proximate Cause: The Limit on Tort Liability
Quick fact
In the famous 1928 case Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., a railroad guard's negligent act of pushing a passenger caused a package of fireworks to fall and explode, toppling a scale that injured a woman standing far away. The court ruled that the railroad was not liable because the injury was not a foreseeable consequence of the guard's action, establishing the modern doctrine of proximate cause.
Why this is interesting
You accidentally spilled coffee on someone's lap, and they suffered a heart attack because of the shock. Are you legally responsible for that heart attack? In tort law, the answer might be no—thanks to a mysterious legal concept called 'proximate cause'.