Law of Torts Research Paper Topics

Law of Torts Research Paper Topics

We see tort law shaping everyday choices—from the warnings on a coffee cup to the algorithms that flag risky content—and we see its rules shifting with technology and social norms. We write here as the TopicSuggestions team of academic researchers who study how negligence, intentional torts, strict liability, products liability, and privacy torts allocate risk, compensate harm, and steer behavior.

Today we will share a concise set of research paper topics you can turn into strong theses with clear sources and manageable scope.

Research Paper Topics on Law of Torts

We will organize the list by core doctrines, emerging controversies (AI, climate, platform liability), comparative perspectives, and methods-based projects (case studies, empirical questions, and policy critiques), and we will note a brief angle for each pick so you can jump straight from topic to outline. We invite you to scroll on for the list.

1. Allocating Legal Liability for Vendor-Supplied Black-Box AI in Bank Credit Decisions

We ask how banking law allocates liability between a regulated bank and its third-party AI vendor when discriminatory outcomes emerge?
We examine whether supervisory examination powers can pierce trade secret protections to compel model transparency?
We investigate what due diligence and monitoring standards satisfy safety-and-soundness and fair lending obligations in outsourced AI underwriting?
We explore how adverse action notice duties can be met when explanations are counterfactual approximations?

2. Offline, Cross-Border CBDC Wallets Distributed by Commercial Banks: Conflict-of-Laws and Deposit Insurance

We ask which law governs loss, theft, or double-spend disputes when offline CBDC tokens issued by a foreign central bank are distributed by a domestic bank?
We investigate whether deposit insurance regimes extend to bank-distributed CBDC balances and under what disclosure duties?
We examine how AML/KYC duties attach to offline transactions that synchronize days later, and who bears strict liability for sanctions breaches?
We explore how correspondent banking agreements must evolve to handle CBDC wallet interoperability?

3. Climate Micro-Pricing in Mortgages as a New Frontier of Fair Lending and Unfair Practices

We ask whether high-resolution climate risk surcharges create disparate impact under ECOA/Reg B and analogous regimes abroad?
We examine what disclosures are required to avoid deception when climate models materially affect pricing and availability?
We investigate if state insurance and fair housing frameworks preempt or conflict with bank risk-based pricing in climate “red zones”?
We explore whether regulators should create safe harbors for climate-adjusted underwriting to balance prudential and fairness mandates?

4. Tokenized Bank Liabilities: Payment Finality, Property Character, and Insolvency Remoteness

We ask whether UCC Article 4A or Article 12 (controllable electronic records) governs settlement finality for tokenized deposits?
We examine how deposit insurance and setoff rights apply when customer claims are represented as on-chain tokens held in omnibus wallets?
We investigate whether tokenized deposits could be recharacterized as securities or e-money across jurisdictions, triggering prospectus or safeguarding duties?
We explore how perfection of security interests should be achieved—by control of keys, account agreements, or traditional control under UCC 9?

5. Quantum-Vulnerable Payment Rails: The Standard of Care and Safe Harbors in Banking Law

We ask what constitutes a legally sufficient standard of care for preemptive post-quantum migration in interbank messaging and card networks?
We examine liability allocation when quantum-enabled interception compromises payment confidentiality without immediate loss?
We investigate whether regulators should promulgate phased safe harbors tied to NIST PQC adoption timelines for banks and core processors?
We explore how legacy signatures on long-dated instruments (e.g., standby letters of credit) should be remediated to preserve enforceability?

6. Perfecting Security Interests in Space-Based Collateral Financed by Earthside Banks

We ask which jurisdiction’s law governs creation and perfection of a security interest in a satellite with multinational registration and ground segment assets?
We examine how the Cape Town Convention’s Space Protocol (ratification status aside) intersects with UCC Article 9 or equivalent regimes?
We investigate priority between space insurance proceeds, secured creditors, and treaty-based state claims after an on-orbit casualty?
We explore enforcement remedies and repossession practicality when collateral is in orbit and subject to export controls?

7. Smart-Contract “Bail-In Bots” in Bank Resolution: Enforceability and Supervisory Override

We ask whether smart-contract triggers for TLAC/MREL conversion are enforceable against bondholders across governing laws?
We examine supervisory powers to suspend, override, or rewind automated conversions to maintain financial stability?
We investigate how notice, due process, and valuation disputes are handled when code executes before court oversight?
We explore cross-border recognition of automated bail-in under BRRD, Dodd-Frank OLA, and contractual recognition clauses?

8. Biometric KYC Across Borders: Allocation of Liability for Spoofing and Data Rights in Correspondent Chains

We ask how lawful bases for processing biometrics differ across GDPR, BIPA, and bank secrecy laws, and who is the controller in correspondent chains?
We examine liability allocation when biometric spoofing enables account opening fraud via a foreign respondent bank?
We investigate data localization and cross-border transfer constraints when biometric templates are used for sanctions screening?
We explore remedies and redress mechanisms for consumers wrongly matched by biometric systems in banking contexts?

9. Sanctions Microblocking in Instant Payments: Reconciling Speed Mandates with Compliance Duties

We ask whether banks may lawfully introduce probabilistic delays in “instant” rails to hedge sanctions risk without violating scheme rules or consumer laws?
We examine allocation of loss when a payment is released, later flagged, and recalled unsuccessfully in RTP/PIX/FPS environments?
We investigate required transparency to customers about screening-induced latency and error rates under UDAP/UDAAP standards?
We explore whether network operators bear joint responsibility for false negatives/positives under network participation agreements?

10. Digital Twins of Collateral in Bank Lending: Can Code Satisfy Notice, Control, and Perfection Requirements?

We ask whether updates to a digital twin (IoT-linked model) can constitute legally effective “control” or “possession” for perfection?
We examine if code-based covenants (e.g., geofencing a financed asset) are enforceable without constituting unfair repossession practices?
We investigate evidentiary standards for relying on twin telemetry in default litigation and anti-tamper assurances?
We explore regulator expectations for auditability when loan monitoring is automated via digital twins?

11. Tort Liability for Adaptive AI Avatars Causing Reputational Harm in Virtual Worlds

We propose these research questions: (1) When can developers, owners, platform operators or users be held liable in tort for reputational harm caused by adaptive AI avatars? (2) How do existing defamation, privacy and misrepresentation doctrines map onto identity-fluid virtual environments? (3) What remedies (injunctions, takedowns, damages) are workable given ephemeral virtual reputations?
We will work by mapping doctrinal analogues in defamation and privacy law, conducting platform policy analysis, running controlled avatar-behavior experiments in collaboration with virtual-world providers, and proposing a liability allocation framework that balances innovation and victim protection.

12. Causation and Duty in Augmented Reality (AR)-Induced Physical Injuries

We ask: (1) How should courts determine duty and proximate cause when AR overlays alter user perception and third parties are injured? (2) Can software designers owe a duty of care to bystanders whom AR users endanger? (3) Which evidentiary standards are appropriate for proving AR-induced causation?
We will work by synthesizing negligence doctrine, analyzing device-manufacturer standards, collecting accident reports from AR pilots, using simulated reconstruction of incidents, and proposing tailored causation tests and warning/design obligations.

13. Tort Remedies for Biometric Surveillance Misidentification and Its Social Harms

We pose: (1) Are traditional tort remedies adequate for harms caused by biometric misidentification (wrongful stops, loss of livelihood, stigma)? (2) What evidentiary presumptions or shifting burdens should apply when algorithmic error rates are proprietary? (3) How can courts craft non-pecuniary remedies to address collective dignity harms?
We will work by combining doctrinal research on privacy/invasion of seclusion and false imprisonment, empirical analysis of misidentification cases, FOIA/requests for error-rate data, and advocacy of novel remedies like statutory presumptions, declaratory relief, and system-wide audits.

14. Duty of Care Between Pedestrians and Autonomous Delivery Robots on Shared Micro-Pathways

We inquire: (1) How should negligence standards adapt to mixed traffic of humans and low-speed autonomous delivery robots on sidewalks and bike lanes? (2) What norms of foreseeability and reasonable care apply when both parties are partially automated? (3) How should liability be apportioned among manufacturers, operators and human users?
We will work by conducting comparative law review of municipal rules, performing field observations and incident mapping, running human-robot interaction experiments, and drafting model negligence rules and regulatory recommendations for local governments.

15. Compensable Emotional Harm from Deepfake Intimate Content: Tort Foundations and Proof Challenges

We ask: (1) Can tort law recognize and quantify emotional harm where deepfakes of intimate acts cause family breakdown or social ostracism? (2) What causation and evidence standards should apply to synthetic-persona harms? (3) Are privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, or novel torts best suited to remedy deepfake harms?
We will work by analyzing existing tort categories, collecting victim narratives and clinical harm assessments, testing evidentiary protocols for attributing harm to synthetic content, and proposing statutory evidentiary presumptions and specialized remedies.

16. Liability of Open-Source Contributors for Harm Caused by Safety-Critical Software: A Collective-Tort Approach

We question: (1) Under what circumstances can contributors to widely used open-source code be liable in tort for safety-critical failures? (2) Can a collective-tort or enterprise-liability model allocate responsibility without chilling contribution? (3) What policy shields (licenses, insurance pools) balance accountability and innovation?
We will work by reviewing product liability, contributory negligence and enterprise liability doctrines, analyzing prominent open-source failure incidents, surveying contributor practices, and proposing a calibrated liability/insulation framework plus practical governance mechanisms.

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17. Environmental Torts from Algorithmic Commodity-Trading Spikes Causing Localized Resource Scarcity

We propose: (1) When automated trading algorithms produce sudden commodity-price spikes that cause local environmental harms (e.g., water hoarding, fuel shortages), can affected communities pursue tort claims? (2) How to prove causation across algorithmic market actions and physical environmental impact? (3) What injunctive and compensatory remedies are viable?
We will work by linking market behavior analysis to on-the-ground harm mapping, collaborating with economists to trace causal chains, reviewing nuisance and negligence doctrines, and suggesting preventive regulatory and civil-law remedies tailored to algorithmic market harms.

18. Cross-Border Tort Remedies Where Platforms Intentionally Amplify Hazardous Content Across Jurisdictions

We ask: (1) How can tort victims obtain remedies when social media platforms use algorithmic amplification strategies that foreseeably cause harm across different legal regimes? (2) Which jurisdiction’s tort law governs and how should courts handle conflicts? (3) Can transnational injunctive relief be structured to address algorithmic amplification effectively?
We will work through comparative jurisdictional analysis, case studies of cross-border harms, mapping platform amplification mechanisms, and designing conflict-of-law principles and coordinated remedies including global takedown protocols and cross-border liability standards.

19. Tort Remedies for Cultural Heritage Loss Caused by 3D Scanning, Replication and Commercial Exploitation

We inquire: (1) When commercial 3D scanning and replication of cultural artifacts leads to loss of communal meaning or economic displacement, can affected communities claim tort injuries? (2) How to balance freedom of expression, research uses and communal dignity? (3) What forms of injunctive and restorative relief are appropriate?
We will work by integrating tort law with cultural heritage doctrine and Indigenous rights, documenting harm through ethnographic methods, analyzing existing intellectual property and tort overlaps, and proposing remedies emphasizing restitution, community control, and limitation on commercial exploitation.

20. Duty to Warn and Third-Party Risk When Human Enhancement Surgeries Altered Behavior Causes Harm to Others

We ask: (1) Do physicians, device makers or enhancement clinics owe a tort duty to third parties who may be harmed by patients’ enhanced capabilities (e.g., superstrength, reflex augmentation)? (2) How should foreseeability and consent be defined where enhancements create third-party risks? (3) What preventive duties (disclosure, training, use restrictions) are reasonable?
We will work by extrapolating from public-health and product-liability doctrines, modeling risk scenarios, consulting bioethicists and clinicians, proposing duty-to-warn standards, and designing regulatory and tort-based controls that allocate responsibility while respecting patient autonomy.

21. Algorithmic Bias as a Tort: Duty of Care for AI Decision Systems

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose studying whether biased outcomes from automated decision systems can give rise to a tort duty of care and how that duty should be framed.
Research questions: Can plaintiffs establish duty, breach, causation and remoteness where bias is systemic and opaque; how should courts evaluate foreseeability and standard of care for developers, deployers and data providers; what evidentiary standards and remedies (injunctive relief, damages, algorithmic audit orders) are appropriate?
We will map doctrinal gaps by combining case law review, comparative statutory analysis, technical audits of bias, and propose a legal test and procedural mechanisms for discovery of algorithmic processes.

22. Microplastic Pollution and Novel Private Nuisance Claims

We, the TopicSuggestions team, suggest examining whether persistent microplastic contamination supports private nuisance or public nuisance claims against polluters and intermediaries.
Research questions: Who may sue and show standing for diffuse, long-term particulate harms; how to prove causation and attribution across complex supply chains; what relief and abatement orders are practicable; can common-law nuisance adapt to transboundary particulate pollution?
We will synthesize environmental science on microplastics, trace-source methodologies, comparative nuisance doctrines, and propose a framework for pleading and proving microplastic nuisance in common-law jurisdictions.

23. Tort Liability for Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Managers: Allocating Fault in Connected Fleets

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose analyzing tort claims where autonomous vehicle fleets cause harm and liability must be distributed among manufacturers, fleet operators, software vendors and remote supervisors.
Research questions: When does vicarious or enterprise liability attach to fleet managers; how should courts apportion fault among AI code authors and operational controllers; what evidentiary role do telemetry logs and OTA updates play in causation and mitigation?
We will combine doctrinal research, simulated accident reconstructions, analysis of fleet governance contracts, and recommend statutory or common-law rules for enterprise responsibility and safe-harbor incentives.

24. Emotional Harm from Deepfake Dissemination: Recognizing a New Intentional Tort

We, the TopicSuggestions team, recommend exploring whether and how deepfake-driven emotional harms justify a distinct intentional tort remedy distinct from defamation and privacy claims.
Research questions: What elements should an intentional-deepfake tort require (intent, falsity, publication, foreseeability of emotional or reputational harm); how to balance free expression defenses; what interlocutory relief (content takedown, identity verification) is appropriate?
We will analyze technology forensics, catalog harms from empirical victim interviews, evaluate existing tort doctrines, and draft a model cause of action and evidentiary protocol for courts and platforms.

25. Climate Migration and Third-Party Tort Claims: Host-State and Corporate Liability for Displaced Persons

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose investigating tort avenues for climate migrants to recover from private actors and host-state policies that exacerbate displacement harms.
Research questions: Can private actors (fossil fuel corporations, insurers, infrastructure firms) be sued in tort for contribution to displacement; do host states owe a tort-like duty to protect displaced migrants from avoidable third-party harms; how to overcome causation and jurisdictional obstacles?
We will integrate climate attribution science, comparative tort litigation strategies, human-rights law, and propose transnational tort mechanisms and procedural pathways for displaced persons.

26. Algorithmic Herd Behavior Causing Market Disruptions: Tort Claims Against Social Trading Platforms

We, the TopicSuggestions team, advise studying tort liability where social trading features and algorithmic recommendation lead to herd trading that precipitates harms to retail investors.
Research questions: Do platforms owe a duty to prevent foreseeable algorithmically induced market shocks; how to prove causation between recommendation algorithms and individual losses; what regulatory or tort remedies (disgorgement, systemic safeguards) are viable?
We will merge financial econometric analysis of trading data, platform policy review, litigation mapping, and design legal tests for foreseeability and reasonable mitigation by platforms.

27. Torts of Omission in Telemedicine: Professional Duty and the Remote Standard of Care

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose examining when omissions in telemedicine (missed diagnoses, failure to escalate) constitute actionable torts given remote interaction constraints.
Research questions: How should courts define the standard of care for remote consultations; when does cross-border telemedicine create jurisdictional liability; what role do platform design, digital triage tools and documentation practices play in negligence analysis?
We will review malpractice cases, interview clinicians and telehealth vendors, analyze professional guidance, and propose an updated standard of care and best-practice protocols to inform tort adjudication.

28. Biometric Surveillance and False Positives: Tort Remedies for Misidentification Harms

We, the TopicSuggestions team, suggest researching tort responses to harms caused by biometric surveillance false positives (arrests, job loss, stigmatization).
Research questions: Should liability be strict or negligence-based for entities deploying error-prone biometric systems; how to quantify non-pecuniary harm from misidentification; what duty to warn, audit and correct do deployers owe?
We will collect empirical error-rate data, analyze case law on misidentification, develop compensatory models for dignitary and economic harms, and recommend procedural discovery rules for algorithmic evidence.

29. Corporate Content Moderation Decisions as Business Judgment vs Tortious Negligence

We, the TopicSuggestions team, propose exploring when harmful third-party content left up or taken down by platforms gives rise to tort liability rather than being shielded by business-judgment or immunity arguments.
Research questions: What duty do platforms owe to foreseeable victims of third-party content; how to define breach when moderation policies are opaque; can a negligence framework incentivize safer moderation without chilling speech?
We will analyze immunities (where applicable), conduct stakeholder interviews, map harms caused by moderation decisions, and draft a tort-informed regulatory approach balancing safety and expression.

30. Tort Remedies for Dignitary Harms in Virtual Reality Environments

We, the TopicSuggestions team, recommend investigating how tort law should address intentional and negligent dignitary harms (harassment, simulated assault, nonconsensual avatar interactions) in immersive VR spaces.
Research questions: What counts as bodily vs dignitary harm in VR; how to establish jurisdiction and admissible evidence for ephemeral, distributed interactions; what interim relief and damages fit virtual harm remediation?
We will design experimental studies simulating VR harms, review existing harassment and battery doctrines, gather user testimony, and propose an adapted tort framework and procedural tools for adjudicating immersive-environment harms.

31. Algorithmic Nudges and Tort Liability in Social Media Recommender Systems

We pose research questions: When do personalized recommender nudges create a duty of care; how do we prove causation and foreseeability when harm follows from algorithmic amplification; what remedies fit harms that are primarily informational or reputational?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will combine doctrinal analysis of negligence and intentional torts with technical reverse-engineering of recommendation flows, run controlled audit experiments, and develop hybrid causation frameworks that integrate probabilistic evidence and platform logs.

32. Tort Law Responses to Psycho-Neurological Harms from Augmented and Virtual Reality

We pose research questions: When does immersive AR/VR create a foreseeable risk of dissociation, seizures, or PTSD that gives rise to tort liability; how should courts treat proof of subjective neuro-psychological injury; are manufacturers or content creators primarily liable?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will synthesize neuropsychological literature, review emerging case law and product warnings, design clinical-legal fact patterns for causation analysis, and propose statutory safety standards and evidence rules for courts.

33. Group Harm and Remedies in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Smart-Contract Failures

We pose research questions: How can tort principles allocate liability and remedies when losses arise from autonomous smart-contract failures affecting distributed token holders; who is the tortfeasor when governance is decentralized?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will perform technical code audits of representative DeFi failures, map stakeholder roles to traditional actors in tort, evaluate restitution and disgorgement mechanisms, and propose tailored standing and remedy doctrines.

34. Attribution of Carbon Harm: Tort Liability for AI Models’ Lifecycle Emissions

We pose research questions: Can tort law recognize duty and causation for harms traceable to the training/deployment emissions of large AI models; what standards govern mitigation obligations for model deployers?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will combine lifecycle carbon accounting of model development with doctrinal inquiry into causation and contributory harm, run scenario-based allocation models, and recommend legal tests for proximate contribution to climate injury.

35. Tort Accountability for Lethal Autonomous Weapon Swarms and Software Failures

We pose research questions: How can civil tort law allocate liability for wrongful death or property damage caused by autonomous weapon swarms; what roles do commanders, manufacturers, and programmers play in negligence or strict liability schemes?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will analyze international humanitarian law alongside domestic tort doctrines, model swarm decision-path failures, compile hypothetical fact patterns, and propose a layered liability regime and compliance standards for developers and deployers.

36. Duty to Patch: Negligence for Failure to Update Safety-Critical Connected Medical Devices

We pose research questions: When does failure to provide security/functional patches for connected medical devices constitute a breach of duty; how should courts allocate responsibility among manufacturers, healthcare providers, and hospitals?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will survey device-vendor practices and regulations, analyze incidents where lack of updates caused harm, develop timelines for reasonable patching obligations, and propose evidentiary presumptions and safe-harbor rules.

37. Intergenerational Torts for Biodiversity Loss: Standing, Damages, and Trust Remedies

We pose research questions: How can tort law recognize harms to future generations from biodiversity loss; what standing doctrines and damage measures can meaningfully redress non-economic ecological harms?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will engage interdisciplinary scholarship (ecology, environmental economics), construct doctrinal arguments for trustee-like remedies or representative standing, and design quantification methodologies for long-term non-economic losses.

38. Probabilistic Harms from Quantum-Resistant Cryptography Failures: A New Tort Frontier

We pose research questions: How should tort doctrines treat probabilistic, low-probability catastrophic failures in post-quantum cryptographic systems that lead to data integrity or confidentiality harms; who bears the risk when service providers misstate quantum resilience?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will collaborate with cryptographers to model failure probabilities, adapt causation and foreseeability analysis to probabilistic harms, collect industry disclosures, and propose standards for reasonable reliance and liability allocation.

39. Algorithmic Steering and Tort Remedies in Digital Housing Marketplaces

We pose research questions: When does algorithmic steering in rental and real-estate platforms give rise to tort claims (discrimination, interference with contractual relations, economic loss); what evidentiary standards suffice to prove causation and intent?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will run paired-audit studies, analyze platform design documents, test doctrinal pathways (tortious interference, negligent misrepresentation, discrimination torts), and recommend evidentiary and remedial innovations for courts.

40. Virtual Property Torts: Trespass, Conversion and Nuisance in Persistent Metaverse Environments

We pose research questions: How can traditional tort concepts of trespass and conversion be adapted to ownership and interference in persistent virtual land and assets; what remedies and jurisdictional rules best protect users and markets?
We outline how to work on this topic: We will map virtual property rights across platform terms and blockchain records, analyze analogous doctrines (intellectual property, real property), construct enforceable remedies (injunctions, restitution), and propose choice-of-law and enforcement mechanisms for cross-border virtual harms.

41. Tort liability for algorithmic decision-making causing non-economic psychological harm

We propose to examine when algorithmic errors in public-facing systems give rise to actionable claims for psychiatric or dignitary harms and research questions include: (a) what elements of foreseeability, causation, and breach apply to non-physical algorithmic harms, (b) how should courts quantify and prove psychological injury from automated decisions, and (c) what institutional reforms (standards, disclosures, insurance) best align incentives. We outline a methodology combining doctrinal analysis of negligence and intentional tort doctrines, psychometric validation studies to operationalize injury, comparative case law review, and stakeholder interviews to design evidence rules and remedies.

42. Attribution of responsibility for injuries caused by collaborative robots (cobots) in mixed human-robot workspaces

We propose to investigate how tort law should allocate liability among employers, robot manufacturers, and co-workers when adaptive cobots interact closely with humans and research questions include: (a) what duty of care applies in dynamically shared workspaces, (b) how to apportion fault when machine learning-driven behavior evolves post-sale, and (c) whether new duties of monitoring, update, and user-training are required. We outline an approach using industrial field observations, experimental simulations of human–robot interaction, comparative product liability analysis, and policy design for certification, maintenance duties, and insurer protocols.

43. Cross-border riverine torts: applying domestic nuisance principles to transboundary microplastic pollution

We propose to study the transposition of domestic private nuisance and public nuisance doctrines onto cross-border microplastic contamination of waterways and research questions include: (a) can private actors sue foreign polluters under domestic tort law for diffuse microplastic harms, (b) how should causation be proven given distributed sources, and (c) which remedial frameworks (injunctions, apportionment, ecological restoration) are feasible. We outline a mixed-methods plan that integrates environmental sampling and particle-tracking science, choice-of-law and jurisdictional mapping, case studies of transboundary rivers, and proposals for procedural innovations to enable proof and remedy.

44. Torts and genome-editing entrepreneurs: liability for off-target harms from unregulated DIY CRISPR community labs

We propose to analyze tort liability for physical and ecological harms originating from community biohacker activities and research questions include: (a) what standard of care should apply to non-professional actors conducting genetic modification, (b) how to assign responsibility for unforeseeable off-target effects impacting third parties, and (c) what regulatory–tort hybrids minimize social risk without stifling benign innovation. We outline empirical research with DIY labs, doctrinal mapping to negligence and strict liability frameworks, risk-assessment modeling for off-target propagation, and policy design recommending safe harbor duties and community governance.

45. Legal responsibility for virtual property damage and bodily harm in immersive mixed-reality platforms

We propose to explore whether and how virtual harms in AR/VR environments translate into compensable tort claims in the physical world and research questions include: (a) when does virtual interference cause legally cognizable economic or emotional injury, (b) what causation and foreseeability standards should apply to mixed-reality interactions, and (c) which remedies are appropriate (monetary, platform-ordered remediation, or behavioral injunctions). We outline an interdisciplinary approach combining user-experience experiments to document harm pathways, comparative analysis of existing case law, platform policy audits, and normative proposals for tort doctrines adapted to mixed-reality contexts.

46. Tort remedies for data contamination in shared machine-learning datasets

We propose to investigate whether corrupted or maliciously altered shared datasets that produce downstream harms (financial loss, safety failures) generate viable tort claims and research questions include: (a) who owes a duty to maintain dataset integrity, (b) how to prove causation from dataset contamination to specific harms in complex ML pipelines, and (c) how to quantify damages in model-performance terms. We outline a plan combining forensic experiments altering datasets to trace downstream model effects, legal analysis of product/service liability analogies, development of evidentiary standards for model provenance, and proposals for remediation schemes (retraining, recalls, insurance).

47. Liability for environmental and human harms from controlled re-entry of small satellite constellations

We propose to examine tort responsibility for injuries and environmental damage from deorbiting debris and research questions include: (a) how to apportion tort liability among satellite operators, launch service providers, and insurers for re-entry damage, (b) what negligence or strict liability standards fit atmospheric re-entry risks, and (c) how international space law interfaces with domestic tort claims. We outline a methodology using aerospace risk modeling, comparative tort and treaty analysis, scenario-based simulations of re-entry incidents, and policy recommendations for licensing conditions, bonding, and private liability regimes.

48. Product liability and the right to repair: tort implications of manufacturer-imposed repair restrictions

We propose to assess how manufacturer anti-repair measures (software locks, restricted parts) affect tort claims when unsafe conditions result and research questions include: (a) does denial of repair options increase manufacturer liability for injuries caused by delayed or obstructed fixes, (b) how to integrate repair access into product-defect and failure-to-warn doctrines, and (c) what evidentiary standards show causation between repair restrictions and harm. We outline empirical market studies of repair ecosystems, doctrinal synthesis of warranty/product liability law with right-to-repair policies, and development of legal tests and presumptions to shift burdens in tort adjudication.

49. Torts arising from algorithmic crowd-sourcing platforms for medical diagnosis

We propose to study allocation of tort responsibility among platforms, remote crowd-diagnosers, and treating clinicians when algorithmically-mediated crowd diagnoses lead to harm and research questions include: (a) how to distribute duties of care in hybrid human–platform diagnostic chains, (b) what disclosure and consent obligations are necessary for patients, and (c) how malpractice and product liability doctrines should adapt to semi-anonymous crowdsourced inputs. We outline an approach combining case-law review, interviews with clinicians and platform operators, simulation of diagnostic workflows to trace error propagation, and drafting of model duty-of-care rules and informed-consent protocols.

50. Recognition of cultural and communal dignitary harms as compensable torts in post-colonial legal systems

We propose to explore whether tort law in post-colonial jurisdictions should recognize collective dignitary harms (loss of sacred sites, communal identity damage) and research questions include: (a) how to reconcile individual-focused tort frameworks with communal or cultural harm claims, (b) what standing and remedy mechanisms best respect cultural pluralism, and (c) how precedents from indigenous rights and transitional justice can inform tort recognition. We outline comparative fieldwork with affected communities, doctrinal and constitutional analysis, development of collective injury remedies (group restitution, injunctive relief), and design of procedural safeguards to prevent appropriation of communal claims.

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