Pioneering state rulings create a doctrinal momentum that sweeps other courts toward reform.

Evidence

When activist courts, such as the New Jersey and California supreme courts, pioneered changes in product liability law, they dramatically altered the legal landscape. Legal principles that had appeared to be settled were no longer settled, and movement appeared to be away from previously established positions. Moreover, the rulings of these activist courts appeared to have vindicated the legitimacy of court-initiated policy changes. Finally, although most state appellate courts were reluctant to take a leadership role, they were equally reluctant to defend legal doctrines that had been repudiated by a majority of their sister courts. In sum, by challenging the established doctrines in product liability law, the activist courts created a momentum that carried less adventuresome courts along the path of reform. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1798

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A legal principle emerges from a long line of decisions. — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 134; Nineteenth-century judges actively reshaped common law to fit American conditions. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2837; A state court ruling circulated nationally to shape regulatory law — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 952

Broader Connections

• A legal principle emerges from a long line of decisions. #expands (0.75) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 134