December 8, 2007

The Florida Supreme Court has declined an invitation to widen its rule that lawsuits for emotional distress can generally be maintained only if there is also a physical effect or injury of some sort. (There are narrow exceptions, including psychotherapists' breaches). Impact rules have eroded in recent decades in many states, and trial lawyers had hoped to achieve that result in this case as well. Two dissenters, Justices Pariente and Anstead, apparently favor abolishing the impact rule. (Jeffrey Woodard v. Jupiter Christian School, PDF)