Exam 4 Flashcards
Negligence:
- Defendant owed a duty of care to plaintiff, and
- Defendant breached that duty, and
- Breach was actual and proximate cause of the injury experienced by plaintiff
Duty:
“Duty” sometimes arises from the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant or the defendant’s profession.
– Accountants, lawyers, doctors, etc.
Duty to perform their professional obligations with the knowledge, skill, and care ordinarily possessed and employed by members of the profession
**General idea: your conduct must not create unreasonable risk of harm to others
Foreseeability:
Generally, the defendant is only liable for harms that were reasonably foreseeable as risks of the defendant’s conduct.
The defendant is liable if his conduct created an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm
Personal injury –
physical or bodily injury
Property damage –
harm to real estate or personal property
Emotional harms –
Emotional damages are sometimes permitted, but are easier to recover if connected with a physical injury
Actual cause:
The injury would not have occurred “but for” the breach. (If the breach had not have occurred, there would not have been an injury.)
Proximate cause:
The injury is a “natural and probable consequence” of the breach
Defenses to Negligence:
- Contributory or comparative negligence
2. Assumption of the risk
Assumption of the risk
Voluntary consent to a known danger.
If the plaintiff knew of the risk and went ahead anyway, the plaintiff may have “assumed the risk” of harm. In such cases, the defendant is not liable for the harm.
**Exculpatory clauses: Contract clause in which the plaintiff expressly assumes the risk of harm
Exculpatory clauses
Contract clause in which the plaintiff expressly assumes the risk of harm
Contributory or comparative negligence
The plaintiff’s own conduct caused some of the harm the plaintiff suffered.
Depending on state law, this either gets the defendant off the hook completely (contributory negligence) or
Requires the plaintiff to take responsibility for some percentage of the damages
Agent’s Duties to Principal
- Duty of Loyalty
- Duty to Obey Reasonable Instructions
- Duty to Act with Care and Skill
- Duty to Account
- Duty to Keep Principal Informed
Principal’s Duties to Agent
- If there is an agreement between the parties, perform according to that agreement
- Duty to compensate? …Not much of one. Depends on the relationship between the agent and principal
- Duty of reimbursement
- Duty of indemnity
- Duty to inform the agent of known risks
Duty of Loyalty
act for the principal’s advantage and not for the benefit of the agent at the principal’s expense
- Avoid conflicts of interest and
- Maintain confidentiality of principal’s information
Agent’s Duty of Loyalty: Conflict of interest Rules
- Agent may not deal with himself (unless the principal consents)
- Agent may not compete with the principal
- Agent may not act on behalf of the other party to the transaction, without consent of both principals
- Agent may not acquire a material benefit from a third party in connection with an agency transaction (except by consent of principal)
Agent’s Duty to Act with Care and Skill
- Use the care, competence and diligence exercised by agents in similar circumstances
- If you say you have higher level of skill, you will be held to higher level of performance
Agent’s Duty to Account
- Segregation: No co-mingling funds or property
- Record-Keeping and Accounting: Keep accurate records of monies handled and provide those records on reasonable notice from principal
Agent’s Duty to Keep Principal Informed
If the agent knows something that the principal would want to know…the agent generally has a duty to tell the principal
Principal’s Duty to Compensate
- An agent may be gratuitous – no compensation.
- Compensation may be dependent on result.
- Principal need not pay for undertakings principal did not request
Principal’s Duty of Reimbursement
Principal reimburses agent for expenses agent makes while acting on the principal’s behalf
Principal’s Duty of Indemnity
- If the agent incurs losses that should fairly be borne by the principal, the principal must bear those losses.
- – Examples:
- – payments made by agent on behalf of principal
- – contract or tort liability borne by agent for acts the principal authorized the agent to do.
***Limits: no duty to indemnify for unauthorized acts or when a loss is solely the agent’s negligence or other fault
4 ways a principal becomes liable on a contract made by an agent:
- actual express authority,
- actual implied authority,
- apparent authority, and
- ratification
Actual Express Authority
– Sometimes authority is very clear from words the principal says or writes to the agent
Actual Implied Authority
– principal’s authorization of the agent is implied…
- from the conduct of the parties or - from the position of authority granted to the agent by the principal or - by the principal’s acquiescence
When/for what is actual authority implied?
when the agent is acting the way she reasonably believes the principal wants her to act, authority is usually implied
Test based on questions of fact:
- Was the agent doing the sort of activity that would be expected of a person in that role?
- Was the agent doing something that helped accomplish the goals of the agency?
- Did the principal know about and acquiesce in (not do anything to stop) the agent’s acts?
- Was the agent acting reasonably in an emergency?
Apparent Authority:
– principal’s conduct/words (or failure to let others know an agent is terminated) lead a third party to reasonably believe that an agent has authority to act for the principal
The third-party is then entitled to rely on the apparent authority of the agent.
- Principal will be liable to the third-party on the contract made by the agent.
- But the principal can sue the agent for exceeding his authority
Termination of the Agency – when does it end?
- Object (goal) of the agency is accomplished or the agreed term of the agency has passed.
- The parties agree to terminate.
- Death of either the principal or the agent
- Changes in the law that make the business of the agency illegal terminate the agency by operation of law
- Either party always has the power to terminate the agency on his own, but not always the right to do so
Apparent Authority of the agent will continue unless…
the principal gives notice to third parties that the agency has terminated
- Direct notice by statement or writing to third parties with who have previously dealt with the agent
- Constructive notice (i.e. newspaper, website) to other parties
Ratification
Occurs when a principal voluntarily decides to honor an agreement, even though the agent was not authorized to enter the agreement
Contract Liability of the Agent
Agent’s liability on a contract made for the principal depends on what the third party knows about the principal:
- Disclosed principal (third party knows that the agent is working for a principal, and knows who the principal is) = agent not liable on contract. [normal situation]
…but …
– If agent does not disclose the identity or fact of the principal to the third party, or
– If the principal does not exist at the time the deal is made, then…
** AGENT is personally liable on the contract. **
2 ways a principal may be liable for an agent’s tort:
- Respondeat Superior
2. Direct Liability