Dr Mel Goldstein
"After writing over a thousand newspaper columns on the weather, predicting the weather on TV for more than 30 years, and testifying as an expert witness in court from slip and fall cases to murder trials, I am convinced that there isn't a single aspect of our lives unaffected by the weather. This book clearly shows the weather connection to so much that happens around us. In the post-Katrina era, we have seen how crime and fraud blossom during times of tragedy. It is all here—even some history of technology with a look at patent law. The role of the government is clearly described. And now with global warming being a serious question—who is responsible? This is an interesting book not only for practicing attorneys and law students, but also for everyone who might be looking for that weather connection—and especially helpful to those who ever considered filing a weather-related lawsuit."
Daniel Farber
"When Nature Strikes illuminates surprising connections between far-flung legal doctrines involving meteorological events. Hurricane Katrina was just the most vivid illustration of the power of weather to disrupt human affairs, often with important legal repercussions. The book should be of interest not only to lawyers but to general readers."
Jan Null
"Both the weather and the law affect us every day. When Nature Strikes ties the two together across the civil and criminal law arenas through numerous well documented case examples. Marsha Baum's timely work does a wonderful job of encapsulating the ongoing impacts of Hurricane Katrina from the flooded parishes of New Orleans to the still ongoing legal struggles over responsibility and culpability. This is a necessary resource for anyone who shares a fascination in meteorology and the law."
David Laskin
"Who knew that weather and law intersected in so many ways, some of them quite strange and unpredictable? Marsha Baum has done a fine service here for anyone who deals with weather professionally or needs to know more about its consequences—not only lawyers and meteorologists, but weather historians, disaster fiends, and enthusiasts who just can't get enough weather lore. I was especially interested in her careful treatment of the ever-vexing question of whether the forecaster is liable when someone dies as a result of a blown forecast."
