Negligence-Duty of Care Flashcards
What are the elements of the prima facie case of negligence?
(i) A duty on the part of the defendant to conform to a specific standard of conduct for protection of plaintiff against an unreasonable risk of injury;
(ii) A breach of that duty by defendant;
(iii) The breach is the actual and proximate cause of plaintiff’s injury; and
(iv) Damages
To whom is the duty of care owed?
A duty of care is owed to all foreseeable plaintiffs. The extent of the duty is determined by the applicable standard of care.
When confronted with a negligence question, what two questions should you always ask regarding the duty of care?
1) Was the plaintiff foreseeable?
2) If so, what is the applicable standard of care?
What is the majority view on foreseeable plaintiffs?
Cardozo view: Foreseeable zone of danger.
What is the minority view on foreseeable plaintiffs?
Andrews view: Everyone is foreseeable.
When is a rescuer considered a foreseeable plaintiff?
Where defendant negligently put himself or a third person in peril (e.g., danger invites rescue)
What is the firefighter’s rule?
It bars firefighters and police officers from recovering for injuries caused by the risks of a rescue.
What is the basic standard of care?
The Reasonable Person Standard
What is the reasonable person standard?
One’s conduct is measured against what the average person would do.
Is the reasonable person standard objective or subjective?
An objective standard whereby the defendant’s mental deficiencies and inexperience are not taken into account.
What is different regarding the standard of care for professionals?
A professional or someone with special occupational skills is required to possess the knowledge and skill of a member of the profession or occupation in good standing in similar communities.
Modern trend is to apply a national standard to all physicians.
What standard or care are children held to?
Children are held to the standard of a child of like age, education, intelligence, and experience. It is a subjective test.
What is the standard of care if a child is engaged in adult activities?
Required to conform to an adult standard of care.
At what age are children deemed to not have the capacity to be negligent?
Four years of age.
What standard of care applies to innkeepers and common carriers?
A high degree of care, they are usually liable for even slight negligence. However, the plaintiff must be a guest or passenger for this to apply.
What is a bailment relationship?
One in which, the bailor transfers to the baliee possession of the chattel but not title.
What is the bailee’s standard of care?
It depends on who is benefiting from the bailment:
1) For the sole benefit of the bailor, low standard of care
2) For the sole benefit of the bailee, high standard of care
3) For mutual benefit, ordinary standard of care.
What duties are owed by the bailor to a baliee?
For a sole benefit of the bailee, the bailor must inform the bailee of known, dangerous defects in the chattel.
For bailment for hire (mutual benefit), the bailor must inform the bailee of chattel defects which he is or should be aware.
What duties does the possessor of land have to those off premises?
There is no duty to protect one off the premises from natural conditions on the premises, there is a duty however, for unreasonably dangerous artificial conditions or structures abutting adjacent land.
