Lecture 2 Flashcards
negligence
- carelessness, but not trying to hurt someone
- most common to be found
tort law
how as a society we react to the inevitable losses as a result of human interaction
what triggers obligation-where does law come from?
- contract terms
- negligence imposed upon us by operating law
negligence (jury instruction)
- fails to exercise ordinary care
- does or fails to do something
- subjecting a person or property to risk of damage
strict liability
-nature of activity determines liability
-absolute liability of defendant regardless of the level of care exercised by the defendant
(encourage people to be careful when engaging in these dangerous activities)
intentional torts
- assault, slander, libel
- defendant intends to cause harm
- knows of consequences
criminal negligence
- “ordinary neg. to a high degree, consisting of conduct that the actor should realize creates a substantial/unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm to another” (Wisc. Statute 939.25)
- ex: distracted driving
finding a defendant liable to a plaintiff based on neg. is really a matter of ____ ______
social policy
how many defendants are usually in a neg. case?
more than one
contributory negligence
plaintiff contributes to the event and/or the loss suffered
when do claims commonly occur?
the context of an employer/employee relationship
Elements of negligence
1) duty of care
2) breach of the duty of care
3) some kind of harm
4) was the breach the proximate cause of the harm
duty of care
there must be a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff
foreseeability of risk test
a duty is owed to the plaintiff if the consequences resulting from the defendant’s negligent conduct ought to have been reasonably foreseeability by the defendant
breach of the duty of care
if you conclude that there is a duty of care owed by the defendant then you must show that this duty of care was breached
standard of conduct
- what was the degree of carefulness?
- not based on how people interact but rather what society’s expectations of how people interact
- courts created “a reasonable man of ordinary prudence” as an example person to compare to in trials
duty for trespassers
- anyone on the property w/o consent-property owner is liable to the trespasser only for intentional acts- (liable to person falling in a trap, but not to someone falling in unfenced construction hole)
- exception for children and attractive nuisance situations
duty for licensees
- anyone on the property to serve his/her own purposes but w consent (guests)
- property owner is responsible to the licensee to warn of hidden dangers of which the owner knows
duty for invitees
- anyone on the property as a right because it is a public place/business
- owner is responsible to the invitee to exercise reasonable care in providing a safe place (wet floor signs)
duty for rec/contact sport activities
-did the participant who cause the injury act recklessly or w/ an intent to cause injury?
recklessness
acting w/o intent to cause to inflict the particular harm but in a manner which is so unreasonably dangerous that the person knows or should know that is highly probable that harm will result
neg. of manufacturers of goods
-duty of manu. to exercise ordinary care in the design, construction, and manufacture of its product so as to render such product safe of its intended use