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KembaraXtra – Legal Terms – Open the Floodgates
The phrase open the floodgates is a legal metaphor used to describe the fear that recognizing a particular legal claim or principle may lead to a very large number of similar lawsuits.
Judges and legal commentators often use the expression when discussing whether extending liability in one case could create excessive or uncontrollable litigation.
The concern is especially relevant in areas such as negligence, economic loss, or public authority liability.
The phrase originates from judicial reasoning warning against liability “indeterminate in amount, time and class,” as famously expressed by Cardozo J in Ultramares Corp. v Touche.
Courts may therefore limit legal principles in order to avoid opening the floodgates to claims viewed as excessively broad or unmanageable.
The phrase open the floodgates is a legal metaphor used to describe the fear that recognizing a particular legal claim or principle may lead to a very large number of similar lawsuits.
Judges and legal commentators often use the expression when discussing whether extending liability in one case could create excessive or uncontrollable litigation.
The concern is especially relevant in areas such as negligence, economic loss, or public authority liability.
The phrase originates from judicial reasoning warning against liability “indeterminate in amount, time and class,” as famously expressed by Cardozo J in Ultramares Corp. v Touche.
Courts may therefore limit legal principles in order to avoid opening the floodgates to claims viewed as excessively broad or unmanageable.
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