Hand rule: Difference between revisions
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"Hand rule" is a rule of adjudicating negligence in [[tort]] lawsuits, devised by Judge [[Learned Hand]]. | "Hand rule" is a rule of adjudicating negligence in [[tort]] lawsuits, devised by Judge [[Learned Hand]]. There are also [[left hand rule]]s and [[right hand rule]]s in engineering and physics. | ||
==The rule== | ==The rule== | ||
Revision as of 12:39, 30 December 2009
"Hand rule" is a rule of adjudicating negligence in tort lawsuits, devised by Judge Learned Hand. There are also left hand rules and right hand rules in engineering and physics.
The rule
The hand rule can be formulated simply as follows,
In the formula, B denotes the cost of necessary precautions to prevent the accident that would trigger a tort lawsuit, while P is the probability of such accident, and L is the loss from the accident. PL, then, is the expected loss. If as the formula states, the cost of precaution is smaller than expected cost, then the party must exercise that precaution and is liable of the loss if the precaution was not exercised.