Chapter 6 Flashcards
Compensatory damages
A money award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damages sustained by the aggrieved party
- special damages
- general damages
Special damages
Compensate for quantifiable monetary loss
- medical expenses, lost wages, loss of irreplaceable items, damaged property
General damages
Compensate for the nonmonetary aspects of the harm suffered such as pain and suffering
Punitive damages
Money damages awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and to deter future similar conduct
A common defense to intentional torts is
Consent
Most widely used defense in negligence actions
Comparative negligence
Intentional tort
A wrongful act knowingly committed
Tortfeasor
One who commits a tort
Transferred intent
When a defendant intends to harm one individual, but unintentionally harms a second person
Assault
Any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm, a reasonably believable threat
Battery
The unprivileged, intentional touching of another
False imprisonment
The intentional confinement or restraint of another persons activities without justification
- NOT moral pressure
- why you can’t keep a suspected shoplifter for questioning
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
An intentional act that amounts to extreme and outrageous conduct resulting in extreme emotional distress to another
Actionable
Capable of serving as the basis of a lawsuit
Defamation
Any published or publicly spoken false statement that causes injury to another’s good name, reputation or character
Libel
Defamation in writing or other form (like digital recording) having the quality of permanence
Slander
Defamation in oral form
To establish defamation must prove
- It was a false statement of fact
- It was understood as being about the plaintiff and meant to cause harm
- Published to at least one other person besides the plaintiff
- If plaintiff is a public figure must prove actual malice
Damages for libel
General damages
Damages for slander
Must prove special damages
Slander per se
Actionable with no proof of special damages required.
- A statement that another has a communicable disease
- A statement that another had committed inproprieties in their profession
- A statement that another has been imprisoned for a serious crime
- A statement that a person has engaged in sexual misconduct
Privilege
In tort law, the ability to act contrary to another persons right without that persons having legal redress for such acts.
- a defense for defamation
Privileged communications
Absolute and qualified
Defense to defamation
Truth
Privilege
Absolute privilege
Only granted in judicial proceedings
Qualified privilege
Statements made in good faith to someone who has a legit interest in it
Ex: surgeon thinks his coworker is on drugs, reports it to head surgeon but she wasn’t on drugs.
Actual malice
A condition that exists when a person makes a statement with either knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard for the truth.
Types of Invasion of privacy
- Intrusion into ones affairs or seclusion ex: laptops, homes
- False light
- Public disclosure of private facts
- Appropriation
Fraudulent misrepresentation
Any misrepresentation knowingly made with the intention of deceiving another and on which a reasonable person would and does rely to his or her detriment
Puffery
A salespersons exaggerated claims concerning the quality of goods offered for sale.
- not fraudulent misrepresentation
Abuse of process
Using the legal process against another in an improper manner or to accomplish a purpose for which the process was not designed
Wrongful interference with a contractual relationship
- A valid contract must exist between 2 parties
- A third party must know it exists
- A third Party must intentionally try to get them to breach the contract
Defenses to wrongful interference
If the interference was justified or necessary
- competition
Trespass to land
The entry into the surface of land owned by another without their permission
Defenses against trespass to land
The trespass was necessary
- you had a license to come into the land
Trespass to personal property
The unlawful taking or harming of another’s personal property
- interference with anothers right to the exclusive possession of his or her personal property
Conversion
The wrongful taking, using, or retaining possession of personal property that belongs to another
- the civil side of crimes related to theft
- can occur even when a person mistakenly believed they were entitled to the goods
Disparagement of property
An economically injurious false statement made about another’s product or property.
Slander of quality/trade libel
The publication of false information about another’s product, alleging that it is not what it’s seller claims
Slander of title
The publication of a statement that denies or casts doubt on another’s legal ownership of any property, causing financial loss to that property’s owner
- also trade libel
Negligence
The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances
(Unintentional torts)
To succeed in a negligence action, the plaintiff must prove:
- Duty
- Breach
3 causation - Damages
Duty of care
Central to the tort of negligence
Reasonable person standard
The standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical reasonable person. The standard against which negligence is measured and that must be observe to avoid liability for negligence
Malpractice
Professional misconduct or the failure to exercise the requisite degree of skill as a professional.
Causation in fact
An act or omission without which an event would not have occured
Proximate cause
Legal cause; discs when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability
Negligence per se
An act (or failure to act) in violation of statutory requirement
Good Samaritan statutes
A state statute that provides that persons who rescue of provide emergency services to others in peril, unless they do so recklessly, thus causing further harm cannot be sued for negligence
Dram shop acts
A state statute that imposes liability on the owners of bars for injuries resulting from accidents caused by intoxicated persons when the sellers or servers of alcoholic drinks contributed to the intoxication
Defenses to negligence
Assumption of risk
Superseding cause
Contributory and comparative negligence
Assumption of risk
The plaintiff was aware of a danger and voluntarily assumed that risk of injury from that danger
Superseding cause
An intervening force or event that breaks the connection between a wrongful act and an injury to another
Contributory negligence
A theory in tort law under which a complaining party’s own negligence contributed to his or her injuries
- an absolute bar to recovering any damages in a minority of jurisdictions
Comparative negligence
A theory in tort law under which the liability for injuries resulting from negligent acts is shared by all parties who were negligent (including the injured party) on the basis of each persons proportionate negligence
Torts
A civil wrong not arising from a breach of contract. A breach of a legal duty that proximately causes harm or injury to another
- a civil crime
