On Nov. 23, the Tortys, Harvard Law School’s annual award show celebrating tort law and the students who study it took place in Austin Hall, and this year’s event was no less spectacular.

Held annually since 2017, the awards ceremony was the brainchild of Jon Hanson, the Alan A. Stone Professor of Law at Harvard and director of the Systemic Justice Project.

Jon Hanson.
Jon Hanson opens the evening. Credit: Jodi Hilton
Tortys student organizers.
The Tortys hosts get the crowd going. Credit: Jodi Hilton

Initially conceived as a way to showcase short films produced by students in Hanson’s Section Six, the Tortys has become a popular event on campus, featuring numerous performances throughout the evening in addition to the presentation of awards. This year featured everything from Bhangra to Blue Man Group, and even some acrobatics — and a human pyramid! — courtesy of “Cirque Tort Soleil.” Members of the Harvard Law School community also turned out to support the event, including Professor of Practice Larry Schwartztol, and Visiting Professor Erin Kelly, who took part in a skit with students.

  • Tortys performers.
From Bhangra to baton twirling, the 2024 Tortys did not disappoint.

The films: Reports on torts

Each year, students in Hanson’s Section Six commit to working in teams to produce short films centered around a particular case or issue concerning torts. This year’s submissions included films about water contamination at Camp Lejeune; the devastating toll of deepfake pornography on its targets; a widow’s efforts to hold the NCAA accountable for her husband’s battle with CTE; and Amazon’s continued sale of sodium nitrite, a chemical that can be fatal at high doses, despite warnings that it was being used for self-poisoning. 

The night’s top prize — the Grand Torty — went to “An Ongoing Battle for Justice: Stories Behind the Opioid Litigation,” which tells the story of Cheryl Juaire and her fight to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable after losing both of her sons to opioid overdoses.

Here is a selection of this year’s other winners and submissions. You can also visit the full Tort Reports playlist on YouTube, which includes winners and submissions from previous years.

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