Biography

An expert on torts and legislative compensation schemes, Robert L. Rabin is highly regarded for his extensive knowledge of the history and institutional dynamics of accident law. He is a prolific author on issues relating to the functions of the tort system and alternative regulatory schemes and is the co-editor of a classic casebook on tort law.

Professor Rabin is currently an advisor to the ongoing American Law Institute Restatement of Torts Third project and has been the program director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program on Tobacco Policy Research and Evaluation, as well as a reporter for the American Law Institute Project on Compensation and Liability for Product and Process Injuries and the American Bar Association Action Commission to Improve the Tort Liability System. He has been a member of the Stanford Law School faculty since 1970.

Key Works

• Marc A. Franklin, Robert L. Rabin, Michael D. Green, Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials, 9th ed., New York: Foundation, 2011.
• Robert L. Rabin, Territorial Claims in the Domain of Accident Law: Conflicting Conceptions of Tort Preemption, 74 Brooklyn Law Review 987 (2009).
• Robert L. Rabin, Tobacco Control Strategies: Past Efficacy and Future Promise, 41 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1721 (Summer 2008).
• Robert L. Rabin and Stephen D. Sugarman, Torts Stories, New York, N.Y.: Foundation Press, 290 p., 2003.
• Robert L. Rabin, The Historical Development of the Fault Principle: A Reinterpretation, 15 Georgia Law Review 925 (1981).

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Torts

Programs

• Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Program (ENRLP), A. Calder Mackay Professor of Law

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Robert L. Rabin, The Vaccine No-Fault Act: An Overview, 8 Indiana Health Law Review 267 (2011).
• Marc A. Franklin, Robert L. Rabin, Michael D. Green, Tort Law and Alternatives: Cases and Materials, 9th ed., New York: Foundation, 2011.
• Robert Rabin, The Legacy of New York Times v. Sullivan: Time for a Reassessment?, TortsProf Blog, May 16, 2011.
• Robert L. Rabin, Harms from Exposure to Toxic Substances: The Limits of Liability Law, Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1747907 / 38 Pepperdine Law Review (2011)
• Robert L. Rabin, The Pervasive Role of Uncertainty in Tort Law: Rights and Remedies, Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1695235 (October 2010) / 60 DePaul Law Review 431 (2011)
• Timothy D. Lytton, Robert L. Rabin, Peter H. Schuck, Tort as a Litigation Lottery: A Misconceived Metaphor, 52 Boston College Law Review 267 (2011). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 1690844; Yale Law & Economics Research Paper No. 416 (October 2010)
• Robert L. Rabin, Emotional Distress in Tort Law: Themes of Constraint, 44 Wake Forest Law Review 1197 (2009).
• Robert L. Rabin, Territorial Claims in the Domain of Accident Law: Conflicting Conceptions of Tort Preemption, 74 Brooklyn Law Review 987 (2009).
• Robert L. Rabin, Tobacco Control Strategies: Past Efficacy and Future Promise, 41 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1721 (Summer 2008).
• Robert L. Rabin, Dissembling and Disclosing: Physician Responsibility on the Frontiers of Tort Law (Symposium: Challenges to the Attorney-Client Relationship: Threats to Sound Advice?) 57 DePaul Law Review (2008).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Member, Editorial Board, Foundation Press
• Member, Editorial Board, Tort Law Review
• Member, Advisory Committee, Restatement of the Law, Third, Torts: General Principles
• Member, Advisory Board, Journal of Tort Law, Berkeley Electronic Press