TORTS LAW: PART I Flashcards
What is a tort?
Any civil wrong other than breach of contract (i.e. slander, malicious prosecution, etc)
What is the name of a person who commits a tort?
Tortfeasor
What are the basics of a negligence tort claim?
- A duty or standard of care owed to another
- A breach of that duty (typically through negligence)
- That causes harm to another person
What is negligence?
Although very ambiguous, it is the failure to live up to society’s ideal of reasonable care in a given situation.
What basic duty do we owe to others?
To avoid acting in ways that would injure others or their property.
Do we have a duty to rescue?
No
What is assumption of risk?
Defendants do not have a duty to stop plaintiffs from engaging in risky activities and being injured as a result
What is an intentional tort?
Defendant does not injure the plaintiff by negligence, but rather on purpose. For example, battery, assault etc.
What are the examples of intentional torts?
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
- Malicious prosecution
- Tortious Interference
- Defamation
- Negligence
What are the elements of Infliction of Emotional Distress?
- The defendant acts
- The defendant’s conduct is outrageous
- The defendant acts purposely/recklessly causing the victim emotional distress (severe enough to adversely affect mental health)
What are the elements of Malicious Prosecution?
- Defendants maliciously issued a civil complaint , without probable cause, against the plaintiff: which resulted in a civil lawsuit that ended favorably for the plaintiff
What is a tortious interference?
A tort whereby a third party wrongfully interferes with contractual relations between two other parties.
What are the elements of Defamation?
- A false statement presented as true
- Made negligently
- Published to a third party
Causes harm to reputation
What is the negligence standard?
The jury needs to ask, “Did the defendant act as a reasonably prudent person would have under the circumstances?”.
What is Malicious Prosecution?
When an individual brings repeated civil suits or complaints against another without merit
What is Defamation?
Statements made by one party that damages another’s reputation.
Types include:
Libel: defamation via printed word, ads, radio
Slander: Spoken word defamation
What is defamation per se?
These are equally statements that harm the reputation of others; however, the plaintiff will not have to prove specific damages if claiming this case.
What is malpractice?
A form of professional negligence; for example an attorney failing to file a document on time.
What does Res Ipsa Loquitur mean?
It means “it speaks for itself”: basically used to easily determine if negligence was the cause of an accident in a tort case.
What are the elements of Res Ipsa Loquitur?
- The incident was one that does not generally happen without negligence
- It was caused by an instrument solely in the defendant’s control
The plaintiff did not contribute to the cause
