From MEE Flashcards
Duty of care
In general, a duty of care is owed to all foreseeable persons who may foreseeably be injured by the defendant’s failure to act as a reasonable person of ordinary prudence under the circumstances.
Physician standard
A physician is held to a national standard and is expected to exhibit the same skill, knowledge, and care as an ordinary practitioner.
Defective product
The plaintiff must prove (i) the product was defective (in manufacture, design, or failure to warn), (ii) the defect existed at the time the product left the defendant’s control, and (iii) the defect caused the plaintiff’s injuries when the product was used in an intended or reasonably foreseeable way
Breach of warranty
The implied warranty of merchantability warrants that the product being sold is generally acceptable and reasonably fit for the ordinary purposes for which it is being sold. Any product that fails to live up to this warranty constitutes a breach, regardless of any fault by the defendant. Here, the herbal tea was not fit for its ordinary purposes because reasonable consumers would not expect herbal tea to cause severe and permanent liver damage. Thus, the defendants may be subject to a breach of implied warranty of merchantability claim.
Market share liability
if the plaintiff’s injuries are caused by a fungible product and it is impossible to identify which defendant placed the harmful product into the market, the jury can apportion liability based on each defendant’s share of the market.
Alternative causation
if the plaintiff’s harm was caused by (i) one of a small number of defendants, (ii) each of whose conduct was tortious, and (iii) all of whom are present before the court, then the court may shift the burden of proof to each individual defendant to prove that his conduct was not the cause in fact of the plaintiff’s harm
Foreseeable plaintiff
Liability typically extends only to foreseeable plaintiffs and hazards. A person who comes to the aid of another is a foreseeable plaintiff.
False imprisonment
False imprisonment requires that a person acts with intent to confine or restrain another person to a bounded area and those actions directly or indirectly result in such confinement. The plaintiff must be aware of the confinement or must suffer actual harm. The confinement may be physical, may be accomplished through use of threats, by failure to provide a means of escape, or by invalid use of legal authority.
Reasonable care cost-benefit
In determining whether conduct lacks reasonable care, courts consider (i) the foreseeable likelihood that the person’s conduct will result in harm, (ii) the foreseeable severity of any harm that may result, and (iii) the burden of precautions to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm.
