Sara Spiro Svendsen

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Vicarious Liability for Group Torts

Vicarious Liability for Group Torts examines the possibility to apply ordinary tort law rules, including vicarious liability theories, on the corporate group. The book analyzes the existing methods of reaching the pockets of parent company for subsidiary faults and then ask whether tort law could play a bigger role in holding the corporate group responsible. This question is debated based on a concurrency theory where the traditional veil piercing theory and tort law theories are treated as equivalent routes for liability - not as being in conflict with one another. The research finds that there are no insuperable obstacles in applying tort law on the corporate group. However, some adjustments will be required to overcome the limits imposed by the general principle of limited liability. Outline Contents PART I: METHODOLOGY 1 1 Background and Methodology 3 2 The Theory of Conflicting Rules 23 PART II: THE PROBLEM OF GROUP TORTS 49 3 Evolution of Corporate Liability and Non-Liability 51 4 Limited Liability and Group Torts 77 PART III: CURRENT STRATEGIES TO COUNTER THE GROUP-TORT PROBLEM 99 5 Veil Piercing 101 6 Direct Tort Law 139 PART IV: VICARIOUS LIABILITY AS A POSSIBLE STRATEGY 165 7 Vicarious Liability 167 8 The Exclusionary Effect of Company Law Liability 199 9 A Natural Evolution of Vicarious Liability 221 PART V: CONCLUSION 233 10 Conclusion 235