Book Review: Emond’s Basics of Tort Law

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Emond’s Basics of Tort Law. By Alex Colangelo. Toronto: Emond, 2024. viii, 157 p. Includes table of cases, glossary, and index. ISBN 9781774626702 (softcover) $79.00; ISBN 9781774626719 (digital) $59.00.

Reviewed by Melanie Bueckert
Legal Research Counsel
Manitoba Court of Appeal

Emond’s Basics of Tort Law is a very short book—each chapter is about 10–15 pages long—that provides a high-level overview of the law of torts in common law Canada. It briefly addresses intentional torts, property torts, business torts, negligence, occupier and host liability, product liability, professional liability, strict liability, and vicarious liability. It also touches on barriers to tort claims (such as limitation periods, insurance issues, and government immunity) and the topics of damages and remedies. Note that this text is focused on the common law and does not address the civil law applicable in Quebec.

My favourite feature of this book is its treatment of “key terms.” When a new key term is introduced, it is shown in boldface type. At the bottom of the page, in a light blue box, each new key term is listed along with a brief definition; for example, on page 2, “tort” is defined as “a type of civil wrong committed by one person against another.” Key terms are listed in the order in which they appear on the page (not necessarily alphabetically). At the end of each chapter, there is a yellow box with an alphabetical list of all the key terms introduced in that chapter and a reference to the page where each definition can be found. The definitions are also reproduced alphabetically in the book’s six-page glossary.

I appreciated the book’s use of colour to denote headings and the start of chapters. In addition to the glossary, the book includes both brief and detailed tables of contents, a table of cases, and an index. In a future edition, perhaps the author will consider including a bibliography or list of related resources at the end of each chapter, as is common practice in other fundamental texts, such as those in Irwin Law’s Essentials series.

In a condensed text of this nature, it can be difficult to break the topic down into reasonably sized chapters. Perhaps this explains why defamation is categorized as a “business tort,” why occupier and host liability are grouped together in Chapter 9, and why product liability and professional liability are combined in Chapter 10. Interestingly, several chapters begin by addressing individual torts alphabetically before then adding others out of order. For example, Chapter 4 on business torts (which might more traditionally be termed “economic torts”) begins by addressing deceit, defamation, injurious falsehood, and passing off, and then continues with intimidation, inducing breach of contract, unlawful means, and conspiracy.

There are, of course, many Canadian books about tort law. Clearly, this short text is not intended to replace the treatises by Klar (Tort Law, 7th ed, Thomson Reuters, 2023, $473) or Fridman (The Law of Torts in Canada, 4th ed, LexisNexis, 2020, $485). It is most similar to Thomson Reuters’s 152-page Canadian Tort Law in a Nutshell, 5th ed, last updated in2019, which was written by three authors and currently sells for $120. Other comparable shorter texts include Fridman’s Torts: A Guide for the Perplexed (LexisNexis, 2017, $130) and Tort and Contract Law for Legal Professionals, 3rd ed, by Carolyn MacLean and Alex Colangelo (Emond, 2023, $109). I might be biased, but The Law of Torts, 6th ed, by my former professor Philip Osborne, which is part of Irwin Law’s Essentials series, remains my number one recommendation for a student or junior lawyer looking for a basic torts text. Published in 2020, it is 568 pages and only costs $81.

This text accomplishes what it sets out to do, in the words of its cover copy: “introduce the full scope of modern Canadian tort law to students encountering the subject for the first time.” However, as the copy goes on to note, it is “[i]ntended to be used alongside traditional law school resources”; that is, this book is a useful summary and roadmap, but is not meant to replace other, more thorough treatises on the subject. To that end, it may be useful for self-represented litigants, students, and those looking for a quick tort law refresher.