Fleming's 'Law of Tort': Australian-made or foreign import? Australia's role in making the 'king' of torts

Abstract

John Fleming's textbook on the law of torts, now in its 10th edition with new editors, was the publication which founded Fleming's reputation as an international tort scholar. This article considers the extent to which Fleming's text was influenced by his presence in Australia as a junior academic at Canberra University College. It is argued that although certain structural features of the Australian legal academy in general, and of Canberra University College in particular, provided a propitious environment for the textbook to be written, the content of the textbook owes little to anything Australian. Rather, Fleming's exposure to contemporary intellectual trends, particularly in the United States, laid the foundations for his textbook, foundations that remained in place throughout future editions of the book. Although Australia gave him the opportunity to write, what he wrote was to draw him inevitably (in 1960) to the United States.