At its 2026 Annual Meeting, members of The American Law Institute approved Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Remedies, marking the completion of the drafting phase of a major component of the Institute’s decades-long effort to reflect the development of tort law across American courts.
Launched in 2019, the Torts: Remedies Restatement addresses the principles governing the relief available after liability is established in a tort action. Organized around categories of remedies and types of harm, the project provides guidance on the recovery and measurement of damages, restitution of a wrongdoer’s profits, injunctions against threatened or continuing torts, and other forms of specific relief. Damages topics covered include general rules for measuring compensatory, nominal, and punitive damages, and compensation for specific harms such as lost wages or lost profits, medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and damage to property.
Among other developments, the Restatement would eliminate reliance on race- and sex-based assumptions in calculating personal injury damages such as future lost earnings and medical expenses. It also proposes a rule to explain and rationalize the longstanding judicial practice of compensating dignitary harm whether or not there is any more direct evidence of damages.
Restatements are primarily addressed to courts. They aim at clear formulations of the law and reflect the law as it presently stands or might appropriately be stated by a court. This project has been developed over several years and presented to the membership in stages, with substantial portions approved at Annual Meetings from 2022 through 2025, culminating in final approval this year.
Unlike earlier Restatements of Torts, which treated remedies as a relatively brief concluding topic, this project reflects a more comprehensive and integrated approach. Remedies are addressed in greater depth and detail, recognizing their central role in determining the real-world consequences of tort liability and in shaping how courts administer relief.
The project was led by Reporters Richard L. Hasen of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and Douglas Laycock of the University of Texas (Emeritus) and the University of Virginia (Emeritus).
“Remedies are where the law meets real-world outcomes,” said Reporter Hasen. “For litigants, the central question is often not simply whether liability exists, but what relief follows. This Restatement brings together the core principles governing damages, injunctions, and other remedies, reflecting both the broad areas of agreement across jurisdictions and the nuances that courts confront in practice.”
“This project reflects a significant evolution in how remedies are treated within the Restatement framework,” continued Reporter Laycock. “For the first time, remedies are addressed in a dedicated volume, allowing for more detailed analysis and clearer articulation of the governing principles. We have sought to present the law in a way that is analytically precise and useful to courts and practitioners.”
The Restatement also addresses areas of disagreement among courts, including issues such as the measurement of damages in complex contexts and the standards governing punitive damages, while aiming to clarify doctrine and provide a more consistent analytical framework. Already the Hawaii Supreme Court has adopted this Restatement’s approach to the standards for awarding punitive damages.
“The completion of Torts: Remedies represents a major milestone in the Institute’s work on the Third Restatement of Torts,” said ALI Director Diane P. Wood. “This project brings clarity and coherence to an area of law that is essential to the administration of justice. By addressing the full range of tort-law remedies—from compensatory damages to injunctions and restitution—it provides courts with a comprehensive and carefully reasoned framework for determining how legal rights are ultimately enforced. That coherence is especially important in an era when many tort disputes span multiple jurisdictions and courts increasingly confront complex remedial questions.”
The Torts: Remedies project is one of the final components in the Institute’s multi-decade effort to produce a complete Third Restatement of Torts. Together with other completed and ongoing projects, it contributes to a body of work that will ultimately supersede the Restatement Second of Torts in its entirety.
Following approval by the membership, the Reporters, subject to the oversight of the Director, will prepare the official text for publication. At this stage, they will incorporate editorial revisions, update citations, and incorporate any changes approved during the Annual Meeting. Until the official volume is published, the approved Tentative Drafts represent the position of The American Law Institute and may be cited as such.
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About The American Law Institute
The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The ALI drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education. By participating in the Institute’s work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to support the rule of law and the legal system, and to contribute to the public good.