floodgates

floodgates
a term referring to the metaphor of the floodgates of litigation, the notion that there is potentially an ocean of potential litigants with potential claims who would, if the floodgates were opened, engulf the courts and inundate the courts of justice. It is often referred to by citing a dictum of Cardozo in Ultrameres Corporation v. Touche (1931) 225 NY 170 as a fear of creating 'liability in an indeterminate amount for an indeterminate time to an indeterminate class'. It is a legitimate worry, but Lord Fraser's suggestion in McLaughlin v. O'Brian [1983] 1 AC 410 that one should only worry about the floodgates if the instant case clearly indicates a realistic possibility of a flood of cases and otherwise deal with it, has not been rejected. On the other hand, the decisions in Murphy v. Brentwood [1990] 3 WLR 414 and Alcock v. Chief Constable [1992] 1 AC 310 show that the fear is still one to be considered. See economic loss, nervous shock.

Collins dictionary of law. . 2001.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • floodgates — flood‧gates [ˈflʌdgeɪts] noun open the floodgates to suddenly make it possible for a lot of people to do or have something for the first time: open the floodgates for • If this case is successful, it will open the floodgates for thousands of… …   Financial and business terms

  • floodgates — [[t]flʌ̱dgeɪts[/t]] PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR to/for n If events open the floodgates to something, they make it possible for that thing to happen much more often or much more seriously than before. A decision against the cigarette companies… …   English dictionary

  • floodgates — [ˈflʌdˌgeɪts] noun open the floodgates to suddenly make it possible for a lot of things to happen[/ex] …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

  • floodgates — n. gate designed to regulate water flow, sluice …   English contemporary dictionary

  • open the floodgates — Ⅰ. open the floodgates (to sb/sth) ► to make a lot of people do something by removing a rule that stopped it being possible before, especially when you do not want this to happen: »Banks feared the legal action could open the floodgates for… …   Financial and business terms

  • open the floodgates to sb — Ⅰ. open the floodgates (to sb/sth) ► to make a lot of people do something by removing a rule that stopped it being possible before, especially when you do not want this to happen: »Banks feared the legal action could open the floodgates for… …   Financial and business terms

  • open the floodgates to sb/sth — Ⅰ. open the floodgates (to sb/sth) ► to make a lot of people do something by removing a rule that stopped it being possible before, especially when you do not want this to happen: »Banks feared the legal action could open the floodgates for… …   Financial and business terms

  • open the floodgates to sth — Ⅰ. open the floodgates (to sb/sth) ► to make a lot of people do something by removing a rule that stopped it being possible before, especially when you do not want this to happen: »Banks feared the legal action could open the floodgates for… …   Financial and business terms

  • open the floodgates for sth — open the floodgates (to/for sth) ► to allow a new situation or activity to develop and become very common: »Changes being considered could open the floodgates and allow foreign markets to sell almost any stock to almost anyone in this country.… …   Financial and business terms

  • open the floodgates to/for sth — open the floodgates (to/for sth) ► to allow a new situation or activity to develop and become very common: »Changes being considered could open the floodgates and allow foreign markets to sell almost any stock to almost anyone in this country.… …   Financial and business terms

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”