Negligence - Breach of Duty - Violation of Private Standard or Common Custom and Compliance with Statute

Question 1

Actor’s Own Standard

​Wal-Mart Stores v. Wright

Answer 1

A private standard cannot substitute for the legal standard of ordinary care. Plaintiff sued for a slip and fall case and t rial court instructed the jury to use Walmart’s manual as the standard of care.

Question 2

Actor’s Own Standard

Restatement (Third)

Answer 2

Private standards may be used to estimate foreseeability of risk, feasibility of precautions or the plaintiff’s reliance on a duty of care, but it does not set a higher level of care.

Question 3

Custom

Restatement (Third)

Answer 3

Departure from customary safety precautions is evidence of negligence but does not require a finding of negligence.

Question 4

Custom

Duncan v. Corbetta

Answer 4

Custom can be used to establish a standard of care. Defendant used a lower quality of wood than was customary used to build a staircase and plaintiff was injured when a step collapsed.

Question 5

Custom Changing Law

Answer 5

Judges don’t generally favor custom as evidence that a law should change

Question 6

Manuals and Codes as Evidence

Answer 6

If private or governmental organizations have manuals or codes, many courts will allow it as evidence that the defendant fell below the reasonable standard of care.

Question 7

Cities Adopting Private Safety Codes

Answer 7

Cities may adopt an organization’s safety code. If that happens, the code takes on the force of law.

Question 8

The T.J. Hooper

Custom and Safety

Answer 8

Companies are negligent if they don’t use safety technology that is not customarily used yet. Two tugboats and their cargo got lost in a storm because they didn’t have radios.

Question 9

Compliance with Statute

​Miller v. Warren

Answer 9

Compliance with a statute doesn’t show absence of negligence. If defendants knew or show have known that higher care than required would prevent some risk, they should act on it. Plaintiff got burned while waiting for rescue because the hotel did not have smoke detectors in all the rooms.

Question 10

Compliance with Statute

​Restatement (Third)

Answer 10

Compliance with a statute or regulation is not a defense. It shows evidence of reasonable care, but is not conclusive