Michael Green
Visiting Professor of Law
Michael Green is a nationally and internationally recognized torts teacher and scholar. In August 2018, he received the ABA’s Robert B. McKay Award for outstanding contributions to the field of torts. He has also received the William L. Prosser award from the AALS and the John G. Fleming Memorial Prize for Torts Scholarship jointly with Professor William C. Powers, Jr., of the University of Texas. Green served as Co-Reporter for the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm and for Apportionment of Liability with Professor Powers. They were jointly named the R. Ammi Cutter Reporters by the ALI from 2011 to 2015. Green is a member of the European Group on Tort Law, which prepared and published Principles of European Tort Law in 2005. He is a founding member and emeritus Executive Committee member of the World Tort Law Society, an organization of torts scholars from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Green regularly lectures in Europe, South America, and China. He is a co-author of a leading Torts casebook and of two advanced torts casebooks. He has written dozens of articles in the tort, products liability, and scientific evidence areas. He is also a co-author of the Reference Guide on Epidemiology, contained in the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, a joint publication of the National Academy of Sciences and the Federal Judicial Center. The Guide serves as a reference on scientific disciplines for federal and state court judges. In addition to his tort and products liability scholarship, he has written extensively about toxic torts and the issues of causation and apportionment that arise in those cases. He has an instrument and commercial pilot’s license. He and his wife, Carol, have two sons and a daughter and four grandchildren.
- Education
- J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1975
- B.S., Tufts University, 1972
- Areas of Expertise
- Insurance
- Mass Torts
- Medical Malpractice
- Products Liability
- Toxic Torts
- Publications
Books
- Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (2016) (with Marc Franklin, Robert Rabin, Mark Geistfeld).
- Educational Module on Scientific Evidence of Factual Causation (National Academy of Sciences 2016).
- Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Perspectives (De Gruyter 2013).
- Products Liability: Cases and Materials (5th ed.) (West 2013).
- Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm (American Law Institute 2012).
- Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (2011).
- Toxic and Environmental Torts (2011).
- Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm Volume I (West 2009).
- Gilbert Law Summaries: Torts (2008) (with Jonathan Cardi, Marc Franklin).
- Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials (2006) (with Marc Franklin, Robert Rabin).
- Products Liability: Cases and Materials (2006) (with David Fischer, Wiliam Powers, Jr., Joe Sanders).
- Products Liability: Cases and Materials (2002) (with David Fischer, Wiliam Powers, Jr., Joe Sanders).
- Restatement (Third) of Torts: Apportionment of Liability (2000).
- Bendectin and Birth Defects: The Challenges of Mass Toxic Substances (U. Pa. Press 1996).
- Products Liability Problems (1995) (with P. LeBel, D. Owen).
- Case and Statutory Supplement to Products Liability and Safety (1993) (with P. Keeton, D. Owen, J. Montgomery).
- Teachers’ Manual for Products Liability and Safety (1990) (with P. Keeton, D. Owen, J. Montgomery).
- Products Liability and Safety (1989) (with P. Keeton, D. Owen, J. Montgomery).
Book Chapters
- The Borderlines of Tort Law in the United States, in The Borderlines of Tort Law: Interactions with Contract Law (European Group on Tort Law) (2019).
- Professor Francis Herman Bohlen (1868-1942), in Scholars of Tort Law (2019).
- Frances H. Bohlen, in PRIVATE LAW SCHOLARS.
- Products Liability in North America, in Product Liability: Fundamental Questions of Product Liability in a Comparative Perspective (2017).
- The Liability of Public Authorities in the United States, in The Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective (Ken Oliphant, ed. 2016).
- Product Liability in the United States of America, in European Product Liability: An Analysis of the State of the Art in the Era of New Technologies (Piotr Machnikowski, ed. 2016).
- Admissibility versus Sufficiency: Controlling the Quality of Expert Witness Testimony in the United States, in Uncertain Causation in Tort Law (Miquel Martin-Casals and Diego M. Papayanis, eds. 2016).
- Basic Questions of Tort Law from the Perspective of the USA, in Basic Questions of Tort Law from a Comparative Perspective (Helmut Koziol, ed. 2015).
- Considerations of Risk-Spreading and Compensation of Damage, in Comparative Stimulations for Developing Tort Law (Helmut Koziol, ed. 2015).
- Delict and Proportional Liability, in Essays in Honor of Johann Neethling (Johan Potgeiter, Johann Knobel & Rita-Marie Jansen, eds. 2015).
- Epidemiologic Evidence in Toxic Tort Cases, in Forensic Epidemiology (2016).
- Tort Law to the Rescue, in Functional or Dysfunctional – the Law as a Cure 187-203 (Lars Gorton, Jan Kleineman, and Hans Wiboom 2014).
- United States Response to Basic Questions on Tort Law from a Germanic Perspective, in Basic Questions on Tort Law from a Germanic Perspective (2014).
- Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability in the U.S., in Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Perspectives 343 (2013).
- Causal Uncertainty and Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Report, in Proportional Liability: Analytical and Comparative Perspectives (2013).
- Toxic Torts, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (2014).
- Employers’ Liability and Workers’ Compensation in the United States, in Employers’ Liability (Ken Oliphant, ed. 2012).
- Reference Guide on Epidemiology, in Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence 2011 (2011).
- Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage in the United States: Tort Law and Insurance, in Aggregation and Divisibility of Damage 379-424 (Ken Oliphant 2009).
- The Impact of the Jury on American Tort Law, in European Tort Law 2005 (Helmut Koziol & Barbara C. Steininger eds. 2006).
- The Future of Proportional Liability, in Exploring Tort Law (Stuart Madden ed. 2005).
- Multiple Tortfeasors Under U.S. Law, in Unification of Tort Law: Multiple Tortfeasors 259 (W.V. Horton Rogers ed. 2004 2004).
- Reference Guide on Epidemiology, in Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence (2000).
- Reference Guide on Epidemiology, in Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence (1994).
- Tort Law, Deterrence and Innovation: Too Much or Too Little?, in in National Academy of Sciences–Building Research Board, The Role of Public Agencies in Fostering New Technology and Innovation in Building (A. Lemer & D. Dibner eds. 1992).
- The Private Law Implications of Regulatory Risk Communication in the United States, in Corporate Disclosure of Environmental Risks (M. Baram & D. Partan eds. 1990).
Articles
- Pharmaceutical product liability in the United States of America, 20 Pharmaceuticals Policy and Law 23 (2018).
- Pharmaceutical product liability in the United States of America, 20 Pharmaceuticals Policy and Law 23-39 (2018).
- Cardozo and the Civil Jury, 34 Touro Law Review 183 (2018).
- Do Courts Engage in a Sufficiency Analysis When Making Daubert Rulings in Tort Cases?, University of Connecticut Law Review forthcoming.
- Positive Externalities and the Economics of Proximate Cause, 74 Washington & Lee Law Review 1517 (2017).
- Maligned Misalignments, 74 Washington and Lee Law Review 1517 (2017).
- Asbestos Victims Fight Asbestos Reform Legislation, Top Class Actions (2016).
- Admissibility Versus Sufficiency: Controlling the Quality of Expert Witness Testimony, 50 Wake Forest Law Review 1057 (2016).
- In Defense of Sufficiency: A Reply to Professor Twerski and Mr. Sapir, 23 Widener Law Journal 663-680 (2014).
- Drafting a Torts Restatement: Of Swiss Cheese, Gravity, and Process, 22 Tort Law Review 31-56 (2014).
- Pessimism about Milward, 3 Wake Forest Journal of Law and Public Policy 41 (2013).
- 比例責任 (On Proportional Liability), 1 Anglo-American Law Review 155 (2013).
- Who Is Now Responsible for Discovering and Warning About Adverse Effects of Generic Drugs?, 310 Jounal of the American Medical Association 1023 (2013).
- The Liability of Public Authorities in the United States, Principles of European Tort Law (2013).
- Restating Tort Law: The American and European Styles, 3 Journal of European Tort Law 281 (2012).
- The Federal Employers’ Liability Act: Sense and Nonsense about Causation, 61 DePaul Law Review 503 (2012).
- Darvon’s turn in the limelight; First pharma MDL in years could revolve around the pain drug, The National Law Journal (2011).
- The Impact of the Civil Jury on American Tort Law, 38 Pepperdine Law Review 337-57 (2011).
- Introduction: The Third Restatement of Torts in a Crystal Ball, 37 William Mitchell Law Review 993 (2011).
- Conceptual Clarity and Necessary Muddles, 90 Texas Law Review 41 (2011).
- The New Restatement’s Top Ten Tools, Trial (2010).
- The Unappreciated Congruity of the Second and Third Restatements on Design Defects, 74 Brooklyn Law Review 807-37 (2009).
- Second Thoughts on Asbestos Apportionment, 37 Southwestern University Law Review 531 (2009).
- The Insubstantiality of the “Substantial Factor” Test for Causation, 73 Missouri Law Review 399 (2008).
- Duty Wars, 81 Southern California Law Review 671 (2008).
- The Intersection of Factual Causation and Damages, 55 DePaul Law Review 671 (2006).
- Apportionment, Victim Reliance, and Fraud: A Commentary, 48 Arizona Law Review 1027 (2006).
- A Future for Asbestos Apportionment?, 12 Connecticut Insurance Law Journal 315 (2006).
- The Unanticipated Ripples of Comparative Negligence: Superseding Cause in Products Liability and Beyond, 53 South Carolina Law Review 1103 (2002).
- The Magic of Gary’s Scholarship, 50 UCLA Law Review 337 (2002).
- Symposium Introduction: Empirical Approaches to Establishing the Medical Standard of Care, 37 Wake Forest Law Review 663 (2002).
- Physician Surveys to Assess Customary Care in Medical Malpractice Cases, 17 Journal of General Internal Medicine 546 (2002).
- Ascertaining Customary Care in Malpractice Cases: Asking Those Who Know, 37 Wake Forest Law Review 699 (2002).
- Tort Law Deference to FDA Regulation of Medical Devices, 88 Georgetown Law Journal 2119 (2000).
- Apportionment of Liability, 10 Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 30 (2000).
- A. Leo Levin: A Fond Tribute to the Master of the Classroom, 148 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1357 (2000).
- Prescription Drugs, Alternative Designs, and the Restatement (Third): Preliminary Reflections, 30 Seton Hall Law Review 207 (1999).
- The Road Less Well Traveled (And Seen): Contemporary Law Making in Products Liability, 49 DePaul Law Review 377 (1999).
- The Impact of Daubert on Statistically-Based Evidence in the Courts, 1998 Proceedings of the Section on Statistics of Epidemiology 35 (1998).
- Fairness and Successor Liability: The Limits of the Common Law Process, 8 Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy 119 (1998).
- Safety as an Element of Pharmaceutical Quality: The Respective Roles of Regulation and Tort Law, 42 Saint Louis University Law Journal 163 (1998).
- Cipollone Revisited: A Not So Little Secret About the Scope of Cigarette Preemption, 82 Iowa Law Review 1257 (1998).
- Statutory Compliance and Tort Liability: Examining the Strongest Case, 20 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 461 (1997).
- Science is to Law as the Burden of Proof is to Significance Testing (book review), 37 Jurimetrics 205 (1997).
- Negligence = Economic Efficiency: Doubts >, 75 Texas Law Review 1605 (1997).
- Legacies of the Bendectin Case (book review), 278 Science 1574 (1997).
- When Science Clashes With Law (book review), Chemical & Engineering News 63 (1996).
- The Schizophrenia of Risk-Benefit Analysis in Design Defect Litigation, 48 Vanderbilt Law Review 609 (1995).
- Successors and CERCLA: The Imperfect Analogy to Products Liability and an Alternative Proposal, 87 Northwestern Law Review 897 (1993).
- Relief at the Frying of Frye: Reflections on Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1 Shepard’s Expert & Scientific Evidence Quarterly 43 (1993).
- Expert Witnesses and Sufficiency of Evidence in Toxic Substances Litigation: The Legacy of Agent Orange and Bendectin Litigation, 86 Northwestern University Law Review 643 (1992).
- The Supreme Court and the Products Liability Crisis: Lessons from Boyle’s Government Contractor Defense, 63 Southern California Law Review 637 (1990).
- When Toxic Worlds Collide: Prescriptions for Regulatory and Common Law Reform for Risk Communication, 13 Harvard Environmental Law Review 209 (1989).
- The Paradox of Statutes of Limitations in Insidious Disease Litigation, 76 California Law Review 965 (1989).
- Contingent Attorneys’ Fees: Theory and Experience, 62 Law Institute Journal 1182 (1988).
- Successor Liability: The Superiority of Statutory Reform to Protect Products Liability Claimants, 72 Cornell Law Review 17 (1986).
- The Inability of Offensive Collateral Estoppel to Fulfill Its Promise: An Examination of Estoppel in Asbestos Litigation, 70 Iowa Law Review 141 (1984).
- From Here to Attorney’s Fees: Certainty, Efficiency and Fairness in the Journey to the Appellate Courts, 69 Cornell Law Review 207 (1984).
Other
- All You Ever Wanted to Know About Adequate Proof of Causation in Tort Law, Journal of European Tort Law (2018).
- Facebook defamation leads to $500K settlement (February 12, 2017).
- After $50 million settlement, victims’ mother blasts Ikea for leaving ‘silent killer’ on the market (December 23, 2016).
- Ikea balks at releasing records tied to deadly dresser recall (August 30, 2016).
- Let’s Be Careful Out There, TortsProf Blog (January 25, 2010).
- Gilbert Law Summaries, Torts, 25th ed. (2008).
- Brief of Senator Edward Kennedy and Representative Henry A. Waxman, as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioners, in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312 (2008). (May 2008).
- Brief of Michael Green and Sander Greenland as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants, in Rider v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 295 F.3d 1194 (11th Cir. 2002). (May 2002).
- Comparative Fault and Damages in Relational Interest Tort Litigation, Iowa CLE (November 1986).
- Honors and Awards
- Robert B. McKay Award for Advancement of Justice, Scholarship and the Legal Profession and for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Tort (2018).
- William L. Prosser Award for Torts Scholarship and Teaching (2015).
- John G. Fleming Memorial Prize for Torts Scholarship (jointly with Bill Powers) (2012).
- R. Ammi Cutter Reporter (jointly with Bill Powers), American Law Institute (2001-05).
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