Negligence Flashcards
defendant is liable for
deliberate or intentional invasion of plaintiff legally protected interest
in negligence, the defendant is liable for
unreasonable, but not necessary deliberate invasion of plaintiff interest
four elements of negligence
duty
breach
causation
damage
general rule that any action a person understakes is to be performed with reasonable care to avoid forseeable injury
duty
doctors are held to a very high standard of
reasonable care
what must occur with the damage for negligence to be established
damage caused must have been reasonably forseeable consequence for the action
always forseeable consequence of negligence
medical malpractice
what factors need to be taken into consideration when evaluating if you have a duty to render care
emergency if begin aid then withdraw able to render necessary aid if you have a special skill have a special relationship
if you render medical care, what can the patient be obligated to do
pay for care
conduct falls below standard or care required under circumstances
breach of duty
required standard of care is reasonble measurement of
your specific skills
standard of showing breach is lower than showing
act in intentional tort
negligence liability can be based upon
non violation or unintentional act
omissions or failure to act
failure to render action that is your duty to act
duty+breach=
fault
what takes place in negligence that intent would take in tort
fault
is there “mens rea” element of negligence ?
no
duty breach of the defendant msut be cause of injury to plaintiff
causation
what types of causation need to be present
actual cause
proximal cause
actual cause, aka
cause in fact
but for cause
standard of cause analysis
was the duty breach of the defendant a substantial, material factor in bringing about the injury
what does the court ask for proximate cause
is it reasonably forseeable that the duty breach of the defendant would cause the type of injury sustained by the plaintiff
in an intentional tort, where at the damage stop
at mere offense
in a negligence case, what must the plaintiff show
actual physical harm to person or property
two types of negligence liability
pure comparative fault
contributory negligence
each party can recover whatever percentage of damage for which was not at fault
pure comparative fault
plaintiff can recover from the defendant as long as he was less at fault than the defendant
contributory negligence
in a case against multiple defendants, each defendant is liable for 100% of the damage, even if he wasnt the solely responsible one under
joint and several liability
the thing speaks for itself
res ipsa loquitor
what is res ipsa loquitor used for
proving negligence when duty and breach cannot clearly be established
what must the plaintiff prove in regards to negligence
accident wouldnt have happened unless someone was careless
AND
defendant was the last person or entity in control of the instrumentality