A tip for reading through the material for today's lecture: Start by getting clear on the facts of Bolton v. Stone. Then read through the excerpts from Posner, Bolton v. Stone, and Wagon Mound No. 2. Try to distinguish the three approaches to reasonable care defended in each. Then try to answer the question: How, according to each approach, should we decide whether the defendant in Bolton v. Stone exercised reasonable care?

1. Reasonable care involves considering three factors.

P = the probability of the foreseeable harm occurring,

L = the gravity of the harm if it occurs, and

B = the burden of taking precautions against the occurrence of the harm.

2. Reasonable care requires that one take the precautions when

B < PL

"In considering that matter [i.e., what reasonable care required] I think that it would be right to take into account not only how remote is the chance that a person might be struck but also how serious how the consequences are like to be if a person is struck; but I don't think that it would be right to take into account the difficulty of remedial measures."

So, in terms of the Learned Hand rule: Don't consider "B"

"A reasonable man would neglect [a risk of small magnitude] if he had some valid reason for doing so: e.g., that it would involve considerable expense to eliminate the risk."

So, in terms of the Learned Hand rule: Its OK to consider "B," but it should be weighted less.