Chapter 4: Torts and Cyber Torts Flashcards
A private, civil legal action to obtain monetary damages from a legal injury, person, or property
Tort
A wrongful act, other than a breach of contract, that results in harm or injury to another and leads to civil liability
Tort
Provide remedies for invasion or violation of protected interests
Purpose of Tort Law
Society recognizes an interest in these
Personal physical safety
Protecting real and personal property
Protecting certain intangible interests
Actual losses
These put the plaintiff in the position he/she would have been had the tort not occurred
Compensatory Damages
Quantifiable, such as lost wages, medical bills
Special Damages
Nonmonetary losses such as pain and suffering
General Damages
Punishes the wrongdoer, typically only available in intentional torts
Punitive Damages
Intended to limit damages available in tort cases
Tort Reform
Classification of torts
Intentional torts
Unintentional Torts
Strict Liability
The plaintiff must only prove that the defendant intended the consequences of his action and knew with substantial certainty that consequences would result from the act
Intentional Torts
The reasonable apprehension or fear of immediate contact
Assault
Completion of the assault
Battery
In Md, these two have been merged into one crime
Assault and Battery
The injured party
Plaintiff
The defendant
Tortfeasor
Confinement or restraint of another person’s activities without justification
False Imprisonment
Merchants can detain a suspected shoplifter as long as there is this
Probable Cause
Extreme and outrageous conduct
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Publication of a false statement, oral or written, that injuries a person’s good reputation
Defamation
Oral Defamation is
Slander
Written Defamation is
Libel
This is required for a defamation case
Statement of fact
Why is fact required over opinion?
Opinions are free speech and generally actionable
The publication requirement for defamation requires that a
third party must hear or see the statement
Damages for libel is presumed as a matter of law, meaning that
a plaintiff need not prove they were injured because libel is permanent and continues to cause harm after the statement is made
Damages for slander
The Plaintiff must prove special damages because slander is temporary
Statements regarding loathsome disease, professional improprieties, serious crimes, or being unchaste
Slander per se
Defenses against Defamation
Truth is an absolute defense
Statement was privileged
Public figures
A person has the right to solitude, and the breach of that duty is a tort
Invasion of the right to privacy
Use of another person’s name, likeness, or other identifying characteristic, without permission, with benefit to user
Appropriation
Intentional deception of another that causes belief in a condition that is different from the condition that already exists
Fraudulent Mistrepresentation
Elements included in fraudulent misrepresentation
Knowing misrepresentation of fact Intent to induce innocent party to rely Justifiable reliance by innocent party Damages Causal Connection
Unknowingly making a false statement, typically occurs when person owes a duty to another to give correct information
Negligent Misrepresentation
Valid, enforceable contract exists between two parties, a third party knows about the contract, and the third party intentionally causes either party to breach the original contract
Wrongful interference with contractual relationship
Occurs when a person, without permission, enters onto, above, or below surface of land owned by another; actual harm to the land is not required
Trespass to Land
Criteria, Rights, and Duties for trespass to land
Posted trespass signs
Guest who refuses to leave or intruders
Reasonable duty of care
Wrongfully taking or harm or interference with exclusive right of use of personal property of another
Trespass to personal property
Wrongfully taking or retaining possession of personal property and placing in service of another
Conversion
Occurs when economically injurious falsehoods are made about another’s property or product
Disparagement of Property
False statement about another’s product that caused a third party to refrain from dealing with plaintiff, causing financial loss
Slander of Quality
False statement about legal ownership of another’s product resulting in financial loss
Slander of Title
A tort of negligence occurs when plaintiff is legally injured due to defendant’s failure to live up to a required duty of care causing foreseeable risk of injury
Unintentional Torts
Negligence
Negligence analysis
Did the defendant owe the plaintiff a legal duty of care
Did the defendant breach that duty
Did the plaintiff suffer a legal injury
Did the defendant’s breach of duty cause the plaintiff’s injury
How would a reasonable person have acted under the circumstances?
Reasonable person standard
Duty is based on this
Reasonable person standard
“but for” defendant’s act injury would not have occurred
Causation in fact
Defendant’s act created a foreseeable risk of injury to plaintiff
Proximate Cause
The plaintiff must show they suffered loss or harm to
legally protected interest
A plaintiff may not recover for injuries or damage suffered from risks he or she knows of and has voluntarily assumed
Assumption of risk
The event must be foreseeable
Superseding Cause
A rule in tort law that completely bars the plaintiff from recovering any damages if the damage suffered is partly the plaintiff’s own fault
Standard in MD
Contributory Negligence
An action or failure to act in violation of a statutory requirement
Negligence per se
Does not require fault, intent or breach of duty
Strict Liability
Usually involves abnormally dangerous activities and risk cannot be prevented
Strict Liability
Manufacturers and sellers of harmful or defective products
Product Liability
