Chapter 6 Flashcards
basis of tort law
civil case which compensates those who have suffered a loss or injury as a result of wrongful conduct of others
there are intentional and unintetnioanl (negligence torts)
two types of torts
unintentional torts - negligence (accident) - carlessness
intentional torts - battery
four elements to negligence
1) duty of care - owned by defendant to plaintiff
2) breaching duty of care - what did you do wrong - breaching standard of care
3) causation/foreseeable - connect 2 and 4 elements (was inury foreseeable from breach)
4) damage - injury or loss
duty of care detailed
who does defendant owe duty of care to whom (ex: attorney owes duty of care to client)
breaching the standard of care detailed
person fails to exercise reasonable care in fulfilling duty
- reasonable amount of are - reasonable person should have exercised under the circumstances (imaginary careful person)
causation (detailed)
have to prove injury is connected to breach
so connecting elements 2 and 4
“is it a foreseeable risk?”
for defendant to be liable has to be foreseeable
for plaintiff to win
must meet 1, 2, 3 and 4
injury details
must be permanent defined injury and legally recognizable injury
prescription medicine
damages avaiable in a personal injury tort law
compensatory
punititve
legislative caps
compensatory damages
special or economic - can account for those damages - lost time, medical expeneses
orrrr
general or non-economic - pain and suffering
punitive damages
extremely rare
to punish a company
legislative caps
tort reform
being a defendant in scenarios
will argue as defendant what four elements did not meet
also have to to defenses to negligence:
1) assumption of risk
2) comparative negligence
3) superseding intervening cause - unforeseebale, intervening act
assumption of risk
before plaintiff even engages in activity, plaintiff knows there is a chance that they might get hurt
ex: golfing
foreseeable have T times every 2 min someone will be hurt by golf ball (golf course has duty of care), but golf course would say plaintiff assumes risk of getting hit by ball when coming onto course
comparative negligence
during the event which caused plaintiff harm, plaintiff did something that contributed or made injuries worse
example: not wearing a seatbelt/intoxication
superseding intervening cause
two accidents in a row but seperate incidents (1st person not at fault for 2nd accident)
types of cases
negligence per se
negligence per se
if plaintiff can prove that defendant broke law
negligence due to the violation of a law or a legal obligation meant to protect public,
do not have to go through 4 elements (plaintiff alleging negligence per se need NOT prove that a reasonable person breached a duty - the conduct is automatically considered negligent)
types of intentional torts
assault
battery
false imprisonment
slander/libel
assualt
unlawful threat
battery
touching/physical contact
flase imprisonment
sholiffting case, leave them in managers office way too long
slander/libel
lies told to others
conversion
lawsuit where its a failure to return goods/personal property
ex: friend stole laptop info
