From the Foreword [footnotes omitted]:

Professor Steve Sugarman has been a man for all seasons in the world of tort law. His published work runs across the spectrum of responsibility for injurer-based harm—embracing intentional misconduct, fault-based recovery, strict liability, no-fault compensation schemes, and social insurance. In addition to this wide-ranging and cogent analysis of approaches to liability and compensation, Sugarman has complemented his system-based work with perspectives from the vantage points of history, public policy formation, and jurisprudential assessment of tort and tort alternatives.

Reviewing these accomplishments within the confines of a brief essay is a daunting task. Nonetheless, in the pages that follow, I will offer a window into the storehouse of Sugarman’s work, which examines virtually every aspect of the U.S. system for addressing causal responsibility on behalf of those suffering personal injury at the hands of others.

My coverage will unfold as follows. I begin with Sugarman’s landmark initial excursion into the world of tort law—ironically, one might say—in which he advocated the replacement of tort with a social insurance scheme. Next, I discuss his more focused tort-replacement studies in the world of no-fault liability. Then, I examine his critiques of tort doctrine and his interdisciplinary perspectives on the system, which include historical and jurisprudential perspectives. I conclude on a personal note.