Add-ons Flashcards
Is the requirement of a license to drive meant to prevent pedestrians in crosswalks from being hit by unlicensed drivers?
No, the requirement of a driver’s license is for registration and identification of drivers
If you don’t have a current driver’s license, does that establish your incompetence to drive?
No
If you cause an injury while driving without a current license, is that a negligence per se situation?
No, because your lack of a license is not a safety statute violation
If someone harms someone while driving with an expired license, does that create strict liability on the basis of engaging in an abnormally dangerous activity?
No
If a mechanic inspected your brakes, and then they failed, can that be the basis for strict liability?
No, because he only inspected them, he did not install new ones
Can a product be defective if it doesn’t include a feasible safety device?
Yes, if the device would prevent injuries foreseeably incurred in ordinary use
Can a manufacturer avoid SPL if he offers a safety device for a product as an additional purchase?
No, because that indicates the company had reason to foresee that the product, without the safety device, would pose a significant risk to someone who operates it
If it is feasible to install a safety device, does a manufacturer fulfill its obligation to make a safe product by warning the purchaser that the product is unsafe?
No
If a company supplied and installed a defective engine in the normal course of business in maintaining and repairing private airplanes, what are they considered?
A commercial seller of the defective product, so they can be held strictly liable for damages caused by the pilot as a result of his use of the defective engine. (The pilot can recover the full amount of the judgment against him from this commercial seller)
If necessity privileges you to trespass on someone’s property, is the owner allowed to untie your boat?
No, then he has committed an unprivileged trespass against your property, and he must pay for the loss of your boat
If an upstream owner of property stops the flow of the stream of water to downstream property, what is that considered?
Private nuisance, because it interferes with the use of enjoyment of the downstream property
If a fact pattern says that joint and several liability has been abolished, what does that mean?
Each defendant is liable only for his own share of the damages, not the entire award
Contribution between tortfeasors is only available when what?
One defendant has paid more than his determined share of the damages
What are the obligations and status of a city?
They are considered a municipality with tort immunity limitations set by the state
Are municipalities immune from tort liability?
Usually, with a few exceptions
What are the exceptions that apply to municipality immunity from tort liability?
- Torts committed in a proprietary capacity
- Municipality created nuisances
- Negligently maintained municipal property, like roads, streets, sewers
Does a municipality owe a higher duty of care than a landlord to an invitee?
No, the standard is to make conditions reasonably safe within a reasonable period of time
If a parent doesn’t exercise control about a known propensity of his child, is he vicariously liable for the child’s tortious behavior?
No, he is liable for his own negligence in failing to control the child
If a bystander forcefully pushed a pedestrian, thinking unreasonably that he was protecting her, can he be liable for battery?
Yes because:
- he acted intentionally
- made harmful contact
- his actions were not privileged, because he had to have had a reasonable belief (and his belief was not reasonable)
Can a child as young as 4 be held capable of forming tortious intent and be liable for his actions?
Yes, any minor can be liable for an intentional tort as long as he possesses the requisite intent
Work in public places often gives rise to what kind of duty on the part of the landowner?
A non-delegable duty
If a mall contracts with an independent contractor to fix an escalator, who will be liable if a customer is injured?
The mall, because their duty to maintain safe conditions is non-delegable
If a newspaper writes about a political candidate’s ex-wife, saying she was unfaithful, can she have a claim for defamation as a private person suing on an issue of public concern?
Yes, because she is not a public figure, so she doesn’t have to prove New York Times malice, she only has to prove the Gertz standard
What is the Gertz standard for defamation?
It must be proven that the newspaper:
- published false information
- was negligent in investigating its accuracy
- caused actual harm to P
What are the three major categories of intentional torts?
Injury to body, emotions, and property
What are the three types of intentional torts that qualify as injury to the body?
Assault, battery, false imprisonment
What are the two types of injury that are classified under intentional torts for injury to the emotions?
Distress associated with a separate tortious injury, and IIED
What are the two extra considerations for false imprisonment?
- if the plaintiff was aware of the confinement or actually harmed
- whether there was a reasonable means of escape
What are the two major categories for intentional torts for injury to property?
- injury to real property
- injury personal property
What is the purpose of a driver’s license?
For registration and identification of drivers
How can you recover on a battery claim against a child?
If you can show the child intended to touch you in a way that would be harmful or offensive, even if he was too young to understand what he was doing or appreciate the wrongfulness
Must you have proof of intent to cause injury or knowledge that injury might result to recover on the battery claim?
No, as long as you intend to touch the person in a way that will be harmful or offensive, that is enough
If you buy a television from the store, and four years later it starts on fire while you’re sleeping, does that establish negligence on behalf of the store?
No, Res Ipsa Loquitur would not apply here, because the manufacturer is the one that might’ve been negligent, or the negligence might’ve happened after the sale
Is lack of privity a barrier to negligence claims based on malfunctioning products?
No, anyone foreseeably put at risk by the defective product and actually injured by it can sue for negligence
If you buy a product with a warning on it, and your friend uses the product, what is your duty?
Duty of a reasonably prudent person to warn the friend of the risks
Does the term “nondelegable duty” apply to many factors in strict liability claims?
No
What are the two types of nuisance?
Private nuisance and public nuisance
What are the two extra questions that you should ask when you’re dealing with public nuisance?
- if a representative of the public is the one suing
- if the plaintiff has suffered damages that are different in kind from those inflicted on the public
What are the two different torts involved in an injury to personal property?
Conversion and trespass to chattels
What is the question you should always ask once you’ve dealt with the elements of conversion and trespass to chattels?
If there is an available remedy
What are the two different kinds of consent?
Express and implied
What are the things that can negate consent?
DIMSFIM
- lack of capacity
- fraud
- duress
- mistake
- exceeding the scope
What are the four things that you have to consider for both self defense and defense of others?
- was there a reasonable belief?
- imminence
- unprivileged attack
- reasonable force
What are the two major things you need to think about for defense of property?
- reasonable non-deadly force
- in order to recover personal property you must make a demand for its return
What are the three major areas of the defense of authority?
- privilege to arrest
- shopkeepers’ privilege
- maintain discipline
What are the two different types of necessity?
Private and public
What are the four major categories of defenses to intentional torts?
- consent
- self defense/defense of others/defense of property
- authority
- necessity
What are the two major things that have to be discussed for private necessity?
- injured property of another
- avoidance of substantially greater harm to own property or self