Development and Background of "Tort Reform" in the U.S. --- Towards History of Modern American Civil/Private law

法律发展的多个论坛，包括州和联邦一级的立法和法院，为私人行为者提供了切换论坛以寻求他们想要的法律的机会。这表明美国法律制度的自主性较弱，而且更接近政治制度的子系统，尤其是在州一级。在当事人诉讼策略的影响下，传统上属于州法的侵权法被“联邦化”和“宪法化”，即侵权法和诉讼的许多方面受到联邦法规和美国宪法的影响，但这种影响是零散的，并不一致。合同法与民事诉讼总体上呈现出平行的趋势，法院在民事诉讼形象的赤裸裸的分割下，也在关闭着民事司法系统的大门。对法律的实证研究对实际法律实践的影响有限。

Multiple forums of developments of laws, including legislature and courts, both at state and federal level, provide private actors with opportunity to switch forums in order to seek laws they want. This shows that weakness of the autonomy of American legal system, and it is closer to sub-system of the political system, especially at state level. With litigation tactics of the parties, tort law, which has been traditionally state law, has been "federalized" and "Constitutionalized," i.e., many aspects of tort law and litigation are impacted by federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution, but such impacts are fragmented and not consistent yet. Parallel trend is found in contract law and civil procedure in general, and the courts itself are "closing" doors of civil justice system under stark division of images of civil litigation. Empirical studies of law has had limited influence on actual legal practice.