Tort Law and Negligence Flashcards
1
Q
What does Tort Law include
A
- Intentional Torts
- Property Torts: trespass
- Defenses: assumption of risk, consent, self defense
- Negligence
- Liability Torts: products
- Nuisance: public
- Dignitary Torts: defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of confidence
- Economic Torts: fraud, tortious interference, conspiracy
2
Q
Define Tortfeasor
A
- Someone who causes another to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability
- Harm can be intentional or unintentional (negligence)
3
Q
Define Tort Law negligence
A
- unintentional commission or omission of an act that a reasonably prudent person would or would not do under given circumstances
4
Q
What are the 3 types of negligence
A
- Malfeasance: performance of an unlawful or improper act
- Misfeasance: improper performance of an act, resulting in injury to another
- Nonfeasance: failure to act when there is a duty to act as a reasonable prudent person would in similar circumstances
5
Q
What are the 4 parts necessary to prove negligence
A
- Duty to care
- Breach of duty
- Injury
- Causation (foreseeability)
6
Q
Define duty of care
A
- Patient caregiver relationship
- Obligation to conform to a recognized standard of care
- Observance imposed on one to safeguard the rights of others
7
Q
Define breach of duty
A
- Failure to conform to or the departure from a required duty of care owed to a person
- Once duty to care is proved the plaintiff must demonstrate the defendant breached that duty by failing to comply with the recognized standard of care
8
Q
Define injury
A
- Includes physical harm, pain, suffering, and loss of income or reputation
- Actual damages must be established
- If there are no injuries, monetary damages cannot be awarded the plaintiff(s)
9
Q
Define causation
A
- Requires that there be a reasonable, close, and causal connection or relationship b/w the defendant’s negligent conduct & the resulting damages
- Departure from the standard of care must be the cause of the plaintiff’s injury
- Injury must be foreseeable
- But for rule: a finding that an injury would not have occurred “but for” a defendant’s act establishes that the defendant’s act establishes that the particular act or omission is the proximate cause of the harm
10
Q
Describe contributory negligence
A
- If the plaintiff contributes to their own injury it can preclude them from receiving any damages due to their injury
- All or nothing
11
Q
Describe comparative negligence
A
- % of “fault” os determined and that determines the amount the plaintiff is entitled to in a settlement
- % of fault can equal the % of the award $$$
12
Q
The commonwealth of Virginia is a ______________ negligence state
A
- contributory
13
Q
Categories of intentional torts
A
- Assault and battery
- False imprisonment
- Defamation of character
- Fraud
- Invasion of privacy
- Infliction of mental distress
14
Q
Describe assault
A
- Deliberate threat coupled with the apparent present ability to do physical harm to another
- No actual contact or physical damage is necessary
15
Q
Describe battery
A
- The intentional touching of another’s person in a socially impermissible manner, without that person’s consent
- Intentional conduct that violates the physical security of another
