Bailments Flashcards
What two questions need to be asked to analyze bailments?
- is this a bailment?
- if it is a bailment, what’s the bailee’s liability if the chattel is damaged, destroyed, or missing?
You have a bailment when the alleged bailee has taken over ________ of the chattel with intent to…
custody; serve as the bailee.
On bailment questions, oftentimes there will be multiple items and you have to determine which are bailed and which are not.
How do you analyze these questions?
Separate out each piece of property.
If the bailee doesn’t know of items included with or inside the bailed item…
They are not the bailee. e.g. diamond necklace in a purse.
If the additional item is reasonably included or inside the bailed item…
The bailee is also the bailee for that item. e.g. spare tire in a car.
Safety deposit boxes (are/are not) generally regarded as bailment.
Are, even though the bank usually has no idea of what is in the box. So the contents of a safety deposit box are bailed even if the bank doesn’t know what they are or that they’re there.
For parking lots or garages, the way to determine if the car is bailed is to see whether…
the person parking the car gave up the keys. If the lot/garage keeps the keys, the car is bailed. If self-parking, no bailment.
If a bailment question is on the exam, something in the question…
is going to be bailed.
How do you analyze the bailee’s liability for damaged, destroyed, or missing chattel?
- Determine Bailee’s standard of care
- Then go through breach, causation and harm
- Determine if there are any limitations on liability
If the bailment is the sole benefit of the bailor…
The bailee will be liable only for gross negligence.
If the bailment is the sole benefit of the bailee…
The bailee will be liable for even slight negligence.
If the bailment is for mutual benefit, the standard is…
ordinary care.
The modern trend in the law today is to apply…
ordinary care to all bailments.
The bailee will be strictly liable if anything happens during an…
unauthorized use.
