Vars’s “Ode to Adams v. Bullock”

Fredrick Vars (Alabama) has posted his poem to SSRN.  The link contains footnotes.

Tort law asks juries to ignore what they know

And give plaintiffs relief only if they show

That the defendant should have foreseen the harm

            As likely enough to raise an alarm.

At that we do poorly, especially so

When the chance of the harm is markedly low.

For here people err in a damaging way:

            “Those small odds are bigger,” they typically say.

These defects in reason, if left unchecked,

Could mean an award for every sore neck.

But tort law gives judges an unnoticed trump

           To counter the bias as would a good ump.

No recovery lies for events too rare.

It’s as if the injury just isn’t there.

With caution this doctrine should judges apply,

           Though after this rhyme at least they’ll know why.