Torts Rules on Past Exams

Question 1

In Virginia, when portions of a landowner’s property expose the public to risks…

Answer 1

The property owner has a duty of care to maintain their property in such a way to reasonably provide safety.

Question 2

As it pertains to public highways, the duty owed by adjoining property owners is to…

Answer 2

refrain from engaging in any act that makes the highway more dangerous than in a state of nature or in the state in which it has been left.

i.e. no duty to trim trees, etc…

Question 3

As it pertains to private neighbors, landowners have a duty to…

Answer 3

inspect their land and prevent any hazardous overgrowth (under nuisance law)

Question 4

A municipality corporation, which has by its charter the power to keep its streets in order, is liable in damages to…

Answer 4

any person by reason of the neglect to keep its streets in a safe condition by not removing rotting and dangerous trees.

Question 5

However, neither the Commonwealth nor private landowners owe a duty to…

Answer 5

protect travelers on an adjoining public roadway from natural conditions on their property.

Question 6

When determining proximate cause, Virginia courts have held that…

Answer 6

there is no yardstick by which every case may be measured. In each case the problem is to be solved upon mixed considerations of logic, common sense, justice, policy and precedent. Thus, the standard is malleabe.

Question 7

Virginia’s Good Samaritan Statute protects persons who, …

Answer 7

while attempting to assist injuried or at-risk persons, may be deemed to have caused them further injury.

Question 8

In Virginia, contributory negligence, if found, is a…

Answer 8

complete bar to recovery.

Question 9

In Virginia, contributory negligence requires the defendant. to prove…

Answer 9

duty and breach of the plaintiff.

Question 10

Liability waivers are invalid in Virginia, but…

Answer 10

defendants can sign indemnity clauses between each other and plaintiffs can agree to indemnify defendants for lawsuit expenses.

Question 11

Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer is liable for…

Answer 11

the torts of his employee committed within the scope of employment.

Question 12

There is generally no liability for the torts of an..

Answer 12

independent contractor.

Question 13

Virginia courts consider various factors to determine whether an individual is an employee or an independent contractor, but the determinative factor is…

Answer 13

the power to control the means and method of performing the work.

Question 14

Virginia does recognize some exceptions to the general rule of no liability for the torts of an independent contractor, such as…

Answer 14

inherently dangerous activity and negligent hiring.

Question 15

The landowner owes an invitee a duty of reasonable care to…

Answer 15

keep the property reasonably safe, which includes an obligation to warn of or make safe nonobvious dangerous conditions known to the landowner and a duty to make reasonable inspections to discover dangerous conditions and to then make them safe.

Question 16

Under Virginia law, an act generally is within the scope of the employment if:

Answer 16

1. it was expressly or impliedly directed by the employer, or is naturally incident to the business, and
2. it was performed, although mistakenly or ill- advisedly, with the intent to further the employer’s interest, or from some impulse or emotion that was the natural consequence of an attempt to do the employer’s business.

Question 17

What must one do to prove conversion of questionably tangible property?

Answer 17

(1) the property is a property interest that can be subject to a conversion claim under Virginia law,
(2) the plaintiff has an ownership interest in the Account, and
(3) the defendant has interfered with that ownership interest.

Question 18

Conversion generally only applies to tangible property, but…

Answer 18

Virginia courts have found that an action may lie for the unlawful conversion of certain intangible property rights that have been documented.

Question 19

An employee is an agent whose principal controls, or has the right to control…

Answer 19

the manner and means of how the job is performed.

Question 20

A landowner generally does not have a duty to warn of…

Answer 20

open and obvious dangers.

Question 21

To establish a negligence per se claim, the plaintiff must…

Answer 21

(1) prove that the defendant violated a statute that was enacted for public safety,
(2) establish that he belongs to the class of persons for whose benefit the statute was enacted, and
(3) prove that the statutory violation was a proximate cause of his injury.

Question 22

The sale of alcoholic beverages is not the proximate cause of later acts committed by purchaser, and thus…

Answer 22

Virginia does not recognize a claim against a seller of alcohol for negligence.

Question 23

A common law negligence action does not lie against a vendor who…

Answer 23

provided alcoholic beverages to a person who later drove an automobile and injured a third party.