Neyers Lectures in Europe
In June 2015, Professor Jason Neyers gave a presentation at the Private Law Workshop at the Humbolt Law School in Berlin, Germany. His presentation was entitled “The Future of Public Nuisance” and addressed far reaching questions relating to the jurisprudential basis of the tort and the implications that this basis would have in civilian legal systems.
After his presentation at Humbolt, Professor Neyers participated in the International Remedies Forum at the Université Paris Dauphine in Paris, France. The goal of the forum was to bring together a small group of prominent remedies scholars from the US, Canada, Australia, Israel and Europe to discuss matters of common interest from a multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional perspective. Professor Neyers presented a paper co-written with JD student Eric Andrews entitled “Loss of Custom and Public Nuisance: The Authority of Ricket.” The paper analyzed the recovery of damages for loss of custom in the tort of public nuisance and argued that such damages are not recoverable since the loss stems from a violation of the rights of the customers rather than the rights of the business owner. The paper also argued that the House of Lords’ decision in Ricket v Metropolitan Railway Co (which stands for this proposition) is still authoritative since every other decision of the House of Lords dealing with the issue is consistent with Ricket while the leading decisions of inferior courts present no challenge to its precedential authority.
