Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
I'm a Thai law student. I'm doing a Master's Degree right now and working on my thesis focusing on Thai tort law and American tort law. I'd like to ask you that: What tort law do Californian courts refer to? Is it California's own tort law? Does California have such thing? I do know that the courts turn to precedent cases of the state, but what I've been wondering is whether the courts turn to the Restatement of Torts, too, since the Restatement is federal law right? So does that mean that they use both use the Restatement and Californian tort laws and cases? Which Restatement do they use? Second or Third?
I have nowhere else to turn to since I have limited source of information. The most complete library in Bangkok only has books on American laws. No specific books on Californian laws. Thank you so much. Looking forward to your answer.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Tort law in California is based on California law: both statutes and case law. There is little federal application. The Restatement is a suggestion, but is not law anywhere.
Here is some information: https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/california-tort-law.html
You can probably get a lot of information online.
There are many kinds of torts (intentional acts, negligence, strict liability, etc.). If you have a question about a particular kind of tort, that's going to help narrow your research.
I agree with the other attorney and would only add that although the Restatement is not law it is very persuasive as it usually matches California law.
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