Torts Flashcards
What is a trespasser, and what duty does a landowner owe them?
- ) on the land without consent or permission
- ) Duty to refrain from willful, wanton, reckless, or intentional misconduct.
Landowner duty to anticipated trespassers:
Duty to warn discovered/anticipated trespassers against artificial hidden dangers.
No duty to undiscovered trespassers
What is a licensee, and what duty does a landowner owe them?
- ) Enters with express or implied permission for a specific purpose (social guests).
- ) A duty to warn of or make safe known dangerous conditions on the land of which the licensee is not aware (this is a duty to protect against (a) concealed conditions (b) known to owner/occupier). And use reasonable care in conducting activities.
What is an invitee, and what duty does a landowner owe them?
- ) Invited as member of the public or a business visitor
- ) Duty: to inspect and discover unreasonably dangerous concealed conditions and protect the invitees from them.
Upon what conditions will a landowner be liable for an attractive nuisance that causes injury?
- ) artificial condition exists in a place where the owner knows or should know that children are likely to trespass.
- ) the condition imposes an unreasonable risk of serious bodily injury.
- ) The children cannot appreciate the danger due to their youth;
- ) The burden of eliminating the danger is slight compared with the risk of harm; AND
- ) the land possessor failed to exercise reasonable care to protect the children.
The general rule for when a duty exists in tort:
Whenever a person engages in an activity, he is under a legal duty to act as a reasonable prudent person engaged in the same or similar activity. To be owed a duty, a prospective plaintiff must be in the foreseeable “zone of danger” from the defendant’s activity.
**Memorize for essays.
How does a industry custom and the standard of care work together?
Evidence of an industry or community custom is admissible as evidence of the relevant standard of care, but that evidence of custom is not conclusive.
What standard of care do Professionals have?
Duty to perform at the same level as another practitioner in the same community.
What standard of care do doctors have?
Duty to perform as an average doctor based on a national standard.
When does Res Ipsa Loquitor arise?
Arises when there is no direct evidence of the defendant’s negligent conduct.
Allows the trier of fact to infer that there was negligence conduct.
What must a plaintiff prove for Res Ipsa Loquitor?
- ) The type of accident would not normally occur absent negligence
- ) The injury was caused by an agent or instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant, AND
- ) The injury was not due to the plaintiff’s actions.
When does Negligence Per Se arise?
- Statute imposed duty;
- D did not perform duty;
- P is a member of a class that the statute was designed to protect; and
- Injury caused by D is the type of injury that the statute was designed to protect against
The doctrine established duty and breach.
Exceptions: Compliance was impossible (heart attack) or would have been more dangerous (speeding to hospital).
What is an intervening proximate cause?
An outside force that contributes to the plaintiffs harm after the defendant’s act.
If foreseeable, will not cut off defendant’s liability.
If unforeseeable, it is a superseding cause and cuts off the defendant’s liability.
What is the eggshell skull rule?
Defendant is liable for the full extent of plaintiff’s injuries, even if the extent of the harm was not foreseeable.
Where must the plaintiff have been to claim Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress?
Within the zone of danger of the threatened physical impact.
Must have some physical manifestation of emotional distress.
Can a bystander claim Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress?
A by stander who is outside the zone of danger can recover IF the plaintiff
- ) is closely related to a person harmed by the defendant’s negligence
- ) Was present at the scene of the injury; and
- ) Personally observed the injury.
What is strict products liability?
Defendant is in the business of selling commercial product may be strictly liable for a defective product causing foreseeable injuries to a plaintiff.
Absolute Duty - manufacturer, distributor, and retailer.
P must show
(1) product was defective
(2) defect existed when the product left D’s control
(3) defect caused P’s injury when the product was used in a reasonably foreseeable way
When is a product defective?
A product is defective when, at the time of the sale or distribution, it contains a manufacturing defect, a design defect, or inadequate instructions or warnings (i.e., failure to warn).
What is a manufacturing defect?
- ) A deviation from what the manufacturer intended the product to be that causes harm to the plaintiff ‘
- ) The test is whether the product conforms to the defendant’s own specifications
What is a design defect?
Consumer-expectation test—plaintiff must prove that the product is dangerous beyond the expectation of an ordinary consumer
Risk-utility test—plaintiff must prove that a reasonable alternative design that is economically feasible was available to defendant, and failure to use that design rendered the product unreasonably dangerous.
What is a failure to warn? Regarding products liability
Failure to Warn Exists if there were foreseeable risks of harm, not obvious to an ordinary user of the product, which could have been reduced or avoided by providing reasonable instructions or warnings
What is required for proximate causation regarding products liability?
The defect causing the plaintiff’s injuries occurred when the product was being used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable way.
Assumption of risk definition
arises when P unreasonably and voluntarily proceeds in the face of known, specific risk.
When may a plaintiff bring an action for defamation?
If the defendant’s language is:
- ) of or concerning the plaintiff
- ) is published to a 3rd party who understands its defamatory nature; AND
- ) Damages the plaintiff’s reputation.
*Defamatory statement must be false and NOT an opinion.
When is language defamatory?
When the language diminishes the respect, esteem, or goodwill towards plaintiff.
Defamation intent against private persons
Defamation intent: against private person (including matter of private and public concerns)– D must act with knowledge that the statement is false or with negligent disregard for its falsity.
Defamation intent against public figures
D must act with actual malice (knowledge that the statement is false or with reckless disregard for its falsity).
What kind of statement is libel?
Written statement, damages generally presumed
What is slander?
Oral statements - damages are not presumed.