An account of the singular way in which the American tort system has evolved and operates today. The book deals with such topics as judicial activism, the jury in civil trials, the trial lawyers, the contingent fee and mass litigation: all subjects of contemporary interest in the USA. The American tort system is a unique system in that it possesses many characteristics about which very little is known in the UK, or in Europe. Professor Fleming, a world-famous legal scholar who specializes in tort, has had the opportunity of observing at first-hand the operation of the tort system in many jurisdictions throughout the world. He brings that experience to bear in a penetrating account of the singular way in which the American tort system has evolved and works today.