Jeutner argues that the reasonable person is, at heart, an empathetic perspective-taking device, by tracing the standard of the reasonable person across time, legal fields and countries. Beginning with a review of imaginary legal figures in the legal systems of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the book explains why the common law's reasonable person emerged amidst the British industrialisation under the influence of Scottish Enlightenment thinking. Following the figure into colonial courts, onto battlefields and into self-driving cars, the book contends that the reasonable person invites judges, jury-members, and lawyers to take another person's perspective when assessing their own or another person's conduct. The perspective of another is taken by means of empathy, by feeling what others might feel in a particular situation. Thus construed, the figure of the reasonable person can help us make more accurate judgments in a diverse world.

The 'reasonable person' is used to assess the acceptability of behaviour in many areas of the law. This notion has attracted a great deal of criticism as it presupposes uncontested notions of 'normal' behaviour. This book explores whether there are deeper foundations to these criticisms.

A man murders his wife after she has admitted her infidelity; another man kills an openly gay teammate after receiving a massage; a third man, white, goes for a jog in a “bad” neighborhood, carrying a pistol, and shoots an African American teenager who had his hands in his pockets. When brought before the criminal justice system, all three men argue that they should be found “not guilty”; the first two use the defense of provocation, while the third argues he used his gun in self-defense. Drawing upon these and similar cases, Cynthia Lee shows how two well-established, traditional criminal law defenses—the doctrines of provocation and self-defense—enable majority-culture defendants to justify their acts of violence. While the reasonableness requirement, inherent in both defenses, is designed to allow community input and provide greater flexibility in legal decision-making, the requirement also allows majority-culture defendants to rely on dominant social norms, such as masculinity, heterosexuality, and race (i.e., racial stereotypes), to bolster their claims of reasonableness. At the same time, Lee examines other cases that demonstrate that the reasonableness requirement tends to exclude the perspectives of minorities, such as heterosexual women, gays and lesbians, and persons of color. Murder and the Reasonable Man not only shows how largely invisible social norms and beliefs influence the outcomes of certain criminal cases, but goes further, suggesting three tentative legal reforms to address problems of bias and undue leniency. Ultimately, Lee cautions that the true solution lies in a change in social attitudes.

This volume explores recent developments in the theory and practice of accommodating cultural diversity within democratic constitutional orders. The aim of the book is to provide a broad vision of the constitutional management of cultural diversity as seen through the prisms of different disciplines and experiences, both theoretical and practical. The contributions, which come from Canada and Europe, comprise a review of the evolving theory of cultural diversity, followed by two main case studies: a substantive study of the accommodation of indigenous peoples within different constitutional orders and, secondly, the importance of constitutional interpretation to the development of cultural diversity in complex pluralist democracies such as Australia, Canada and the UK.

Judges in most societies often resort to resolving disputes by means of applying a criterion of reasonableness. In The Demise of the'Reasonable Man' Michael Saltman explores the ways in which reasonableness varies from one legal culture to another, defined by the relative presence or absence of centralized political power. In non-politically centralized societies, Saltman says, judges seek meanings underlying human behavior, and try to place reasonableness within a societal and cultural context. This is possible because primitive societies are relatively homogenous in their values and tend towards consensus when determining what constitutes reasonable behavior. In contrast, modern judges resort to standards of reasonableness only when the legal standard is unclear. Saltman contrasts judges in politically centralized societies, who, in the absence of such consensus, have the authority to determine, on the basis of that authority, what constitutes reasonableness. This rich volume references case studies drawn from ethnographic fieldwork, historical sources, and law reports to demonstrate differences in judicial attitudes toward reasonableness.

A legal reference for practicing physicians is a necessary adjunct to their professional practice library in today's highly regulated and litigious world. Medical Care Law was written to help practicing physicians avoid legal conflicts, and to prevent legal problems rather than treat them. Written with the practicing physician in mind, this book is also valuable to a variety of health professionals, including physician executives, medical directors, nurse administrators, advanced practice nurses, case managers, risk managers, legal nurse consultants, health care administrators, public health professionals, and attorneys. In addition To The traditional legal issues affecting medical practitioners, Medical Care Law addresses the legal pitfalls in today's volatile health care landscape, including managed care, health care fraud and abuse, compliance plans, and working with non-physician providers.

Reasonableness is at the centre of legal debate, both in academic circles and in practice. This unique reference work adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, merging jurisprudence, legal theory, political philosophy and the different branches of law. All aspects relating to reasonableness and law are addressed by the most prominent scholars in the field. In the first part of the book, the focus is on jurisprudential analyses of the concept of reasonableness and on its moral, political and constitutional implications. In the second part, reasonableness is examined in the different fields of law like Public, Private and International Law. Here in more detail the practical consequences of reasonableness are worked out, making this work of interest to practitioners as well as legal theorists.

This captivating book explores uncharted territory in tort law, shedding light on underexplored viewpoints in the field. The collection brings issues of social class, race, gender, marginalisation, vulnerability and harm into conversation with core tort law topics to encourage a more critical examination of the law and its impact on different groups of people. Written by experts in the main areas of tort law from negligence to defamation and personal torts, chapters will: • deepen students’ understanding of the central concepts and practices of tort law; • uncover the power imbalances and privileges that underpin tort law decisions and their impact on lived experiences; • amplify under-represented voices by signposting to the work and ideas of scholars that are less visible in the field. Integrating marginalised perspectives into the curriculum and discourse, this indispensable textbook paves the way for a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of tort law. Chapter 9 available open access digitally under CC-BY licence.

A considered balance of depth, detail, context, and critique, Contract Law Directions offers the most student-friendly guide to the subject; empowering students to evaluate the law, understand its practical application, and approach assessments with confidence.