This book assembles contributions of members and friends of the European Group on Tort Law in appreciation and honour of Jaap Spier on the occasion of his 65 th birthday. He is the founder of this Group and now one of its two honorary presidents. He has always been the inspiring intellectual force who fed the Group with new challenging ideas. This was mainly due to his broad experiences during his impressive career: after some years first as advocate and then as scientific researcher at the University of Leiden he worked very successfully for a good number of years as legal counsel for a renowned global enterprise. After a decade of teaching at the University of Tilburg he became Advocate General at the Hoge Raad, the Netherland’s highest Court. He is honorary professor at the University of Maastricht and serves in many institutions and organisations as chairman, expert or in other functions.