tort law vocab Flashcards
Common law
A body of law that derived from judicial decisions rather than from statutes or constitution. (Often referred to as judge made law)
Constitutional law
Sets forth the fundamental law for nation or state
Tort
Harm to a person or a person’s property
Tort law
Law that deals with harm to a person or a person’s property
Arson
The malicious burning of the house or property of another
Assault
An intentional act that creates fear for any immediate harmful or offensive physical contact (putting someone in fear)
Battery
An intentional act that creates a harmful or offensive physical contact. Can form the basis for either a tort or a criminal action.
Bill
A proposed law as presented to a legislator
Board of directors
A group responsible for the management of a corporation
Capital crime
A crime for which the death sentence can be imposed
Citation
A stylized form for giving the reader information about a legal authority, generally including the name of the authority, it’s a date, and specifics such as volume and page numbers to help the reader located it.
Civil law
Law that deals with harm to an individual
Clear and present danger test
A test used by judges in which the courts will limit the rights of free expression when the challenged action creates a “clear and present danger” that they will bring about some substantive evils that government has the right to prevent
Complete defense
A defense that if proven relieves the defendant of all criminal responsibility
Contract
An agreement supported by consideration
Count
In a complaint, one cause of action
Criminal law
Law that deals with harm to society as a whole
Criminal procedure
The way in which criminal prosecutions are handled; governed by the federal or state rules of criminal procedure
Defamation
The publication of false statements that harm a person’s reputation
District Attorney
An attorney appointed to prosecute crimes
Felony
A serious crime usually carrying a prison sentence of one or more years
Tortfeasor
The person who commits the tort
Intentional tort
When people intentionally seek to violate a duty toward others.
Negligence
When the harm occurs as a result of a careless act done with no conscious intent to injure anyone
Strict liability
A defendant is held responsible even though the defendant did not act negligently nor intentionally on the plaintiff (Liability without having to prove fault)
False imprisonment
Occurs whenever one person, tothrough force or the threat of force, unlawfully detained another person against his or her will
Transferred intent
A legal fiction that of a person directs a tortious action toward A but instead harms B, The intent to act against A is transferred to B
Slander
Spoken the defamation
Libel
Written defamation
Defamation per se
Remarks considered to be so harmful that they are automatically viewed defamation
Malice
Making a defamatory remark either knowing the material was false or acting with a “reckless disregard” for whether or not it was true
Invasion of privacy
An intentional tort that covers a variety of situations including: Disclosure Intrusion Appropriation False light
Disclosure
The intentional publication of embarrassing private affairs
Intrusion
The intentional unjustified encroachment into another person’s private activities
Appropriation
Intentional unauthorized exploitive use of another person’s personality, name, or pictures for the defendants benefit
False light
The intentional false portrayal of someone in a way that would be offensive to a reasonable person
International infliction of emotional distress
An intentional tort that occurred through an act so extreme and outrageous that it caused severe emotional distress
Loss of consortium
The loss of one spouse’s companionship, service, or affection
Conversion
The taking of someone else’s property with the intent of permanently depriving the owner; the civil side if theft (stealing)
Trespass to personal property
Occurs when someone harms or interferes with the owners exclusive possession of the property but has no intentions of keeping the property
Licensing
Government permission to engage in a profession
Artisan’s lien
The right to retain an interest in property until a worker has been paid for his or her labor
Interference with a contractual relationship
An intentional tort that occurs if someone induces a party to breach a contract or interferes with the performance of a contract
False arrest
Occurs when a person is arrested (by either law officer or a citizen) without probable cause and the arrest is not covered by special privilege
Malicious prosecution
A lawsuit that can be brought against someone who unsuccessfully and maliciously brought action without probable cause
Abuse of process
Misusing the criminal or civil court process
Fraud
A false representation of facts or intentional prevision of the truth to induce someone to take some action or give up something of value
Misfeasance
Acting in an improper or a wrongful way
Nonfeasance
Failing to act
Res IPAs loquitur
“The thing speaks for itself”; A doctrine that suggests negligence can be presumed if an event happens that would not ordinarily happen unless someone was negligent
Actual cause
Also known as cause in fact, this is measured by the “but for” standard: but for, the defendants actions the plaintiff would not have been injured
Market share theory
A legal theory that allows a plaintiff to establish a prima Facie case against a group of product manufacturers for an injury caused by product, even when the identity of the specific manufacturer responsible for the harm is unknown
Proximate cause
Proximate cause it’s not really about cause at all, but rather represents a policy decision that at some point the defendant will not be held responsible for every consequence of every action
Superseding cause
In negligence, an intervening cause that relieves the defendant of liability
Dramshop laws
Statutes making bar owners responsible if intoxicated patrons negligently injure third-parties
Contributory negligence
Negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to his or her injury.
Last clear chance
A doctrine that states that despite the plaintiffs contributory negligence, the defendant should still be liable because the defendant could have avoided the accident by reasonable care in the final moments before the accident
Assumption of the risk
Voluntarily and knowingly subjecting oneself to danger
Exculpatory clause
A provision that purports to waive liability (when someone signs a waiver)
Comparative negligence
A method where Negligence is measured in terms of percentages and damages are distributed proportionately to the defendant and the plaintiff
Sovereign immunity
The prohibition against suing the government without the governments consent
Recklessness
Conscious choice of a course of action with knowledge that it will create serious danger to others
Hazardous activities
Activities that are so inherently dangerous that a person engaged in such an activity can be held strictly liable for injuries caused to another person, even if the person engaged in the activity took every reasonable precaution to prevent others from being injured
Products liability
The theory holding manufacturers and sellers liable for defective products when the defects make the products unreasonably dangerous
Product misuse
When the product was not being used for it’s intended purpose or was being used in a dangerous manner; it is a defense to a products liability claim so long as the excuse was not foreseeable
Junction
An order given to the defendant to do a specific act or to cease doing a specific act
Compensatory damages (actual damages)
A monetary amount awarded to the plaintiff necessary to cover particular losses, injuries suffered, or detriments, and nothing more.
General damages
Monetary recovery (money won) in a lawsuit for injuries suffered (such as pain, suffering, inability to perform certain functions ) or breach of contract for which there is no exact dollar value which can be calculated (part of a compensatory damage)
Special damages (consequential damages)
Indirect damages the must be foreseeable to be recovered (part of a compensatory damage, usually asked for in addition to general damages)
Punitive damages (Exemplary damages)
To punish the defendant for outrageous misconduct and to deter the defendant and others from similar misbehavior in the future
Nominal damages
Awarded when a right has been violated but the plaintiff cannot prove any monetary harm
Attractive nuisance doctrine
A land owner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on their land if the injury is caused by hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children who are unable to understand the risk
Trespass to land
A common law tort that is committed when an individual or an object belonging to an individual intentionally and unlawfully enters the land of another. The party whose land is entered upon may sue even if no actual harm is done.
Spam
Unsolicited or undesired electronic messages
Disparagement of property
A false or malicious statement made about an individuals personal property
Slander of title
When a false and malicious statement is made against a person’s title to real property.
Waiver
A voluntarily relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege
Negligence per se
The legal doctrine whereby an act is considered negligent because it violates a statute or regulation
Danger invites rescue
A legal doctrine holding a person placing someone in danger is legally accountable for harm not only to that person but to anyone attempting to rescue then as well.
Good Samaritan
A person who helps other people, especially strangers when they have trouble
Defamation per se
- Someone has a disease
- Someone has been imprisoned for serious crime
- Someone committed business impropriety
- And unmarried woman is unchaste
Public versus private figure
In order for a public figure to prove defamation, they will need a proof of Malice
Communications decency act of 1996
The first notable attempt by the United States Congress to regulate pornographic material on the Internet
Reasonable person standard
Is a test used to define the legal duty to protect one’s own interest and that of others. The standard requires one to act with the same degree of care, knowledge, experience, fair-mindedness, and awareness of the law that the community would expect of a hypothetical reasonable person.
Business invitee
A person entering commercial premises for the purpose of doing business
Professional standard negligence
A common-law arrangement where a client expects a level of professionalism and standards, held by those in the profession
