Tort Law Flashcards
Battery
the intentional causation of harmful or offensive contact with another’s person without that person’s consent. This is an example of an intentional tort
Comparative Negligence
A tort rule for allocating damages when both parties are at least somewhat at fault. In a situation where both the plaintiff and the defendant were negligent, the jury allocates fault, usually as a percentage. this system has replaced the old rule of contributory negligence.
Contributory Negligence
A plaintiff was totally barred from recovery if they were in any way negligent in causing the accident, even if the negligence of the defendant was much more serious. Today, the most common rule is comparative negligence.
Damages
In tort law, a remedy in the form of monetary compensation to the harmed party.
Fault
In civil law - negligence, want of care, an improper act or omission, injurious to another, and transpiring through negligence, rashness, or ignorance.
Intentional Tort
A type of tort that can only result from an intentional act of the defendant (as opposed to a negligent one).
Negligence
A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.
Products Liability
American law holds the manufacturers of consumers strictly liable for injuries caused by manufacturing products.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are awarded in awarded in addition to actual damages in certain circumstances. Punitive damages are considered punishment and are awarded when the defendant’s behavior is found to be especially harmful, but are normally not awarded in the context of a breach of contract claim.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
Latin for “the thing speaks for itself”. In tort, a principle that allows plaintiffs to meet their burden of proof with what is, in effect, circumstantial evidence. The plaintiff can create a rebuttable presumption of negligence by the defendant by proving that the harm would not ordinarily have occurred without negligence, that the object that caused the harm was under the defendant’s control, and that there are no other plausible explanations.
Strict Liability
Rule providing that if you cause an injury by a deliberate act, even if you did not mean to cause injury and were careful, you are liable to compensate the injured party.
Substantive Tort Law
- Private law made by judges
- Modified by state statutes
- Empowers victims of injury to receive justice
Corrective Justice
- Seeks to redress wrongs by placing the injured person back in the situation he was in before he was injured
- status quo ante
Distinctive Feature
- preference for imposing liability only where someone is at fault
- numerous pragmatic exceptions
Three Main Categories
- injuries stemming from intentional acts
- injuries stemming from negligent
- injuries stemming from dangerous activities or defective consumer products
Tort Lawsuits
- can damage reputations
- time-consuming
- people sue just for revenge, annoyance, or easy money
Lawsuit Frequency
More lawsuits, but…
- don’t want to be hassled
- don’t have access to lawyers
- can’t manage the distractions
U.S. Healthcare
- no free health care for ordinary
- no job guarantees for injured workers
Social Security Disabillity
- didn’t exist for Mr. Brown
- amounts from state small compared to suit
U.S. Lawsuits
Defendant
- hire a private lawyer
- pay large hourly fee
- 10x or more of typical worker
American Tort Law
- Requires that those who bring a civil suit prove that the person who injured them was at fault
- The Fault System
- If an accident was the result of negligence, there would be liability
Negligence
- Builds on a 19th century concept articulated by Judge Shaw
- Defined as a breach of the duty of care owed to others, which causes injury to a third person or a person’s property
Duty Owed
The duty of the reasonable person of ordinary prudence under the circumstances
Intentional Torts
- Battery
- Assault
- False Imprisonment
- Trespass to land and chattel
- Conversion or Civil Theft
- Infliction of emotional distress
- Defamation
- Invasion of privacy
- Interference with contract
Strict Liability for Injuries
Person keeping wild animals
• strictly liable if an animal bites a guest
Person working with blasts or explosions
• strictly liable for injuries at business
Liability Based on Fault
- American tort law eases the burden of proving Fault
* Not practical for injured person to prove exactly how injured through negligence
