Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Torts > Intentional Torts > Flashcards

Intentional Torts Flashcards

1
Q

Prima facie case of intentional tort

A
  1. Act by defendant – volitional movement
  2. Intent – specific or general
  3. Causation – defendant’s conduct is substantial factor in bringing about injury
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is specific intent?

A

Goal in acting is to bring about specific consequences

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Definition: general intent

A

Actor knows with substantial certainty that consequences will result (baseball player throwing bat)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How is transferred intent triggered?

A

Defendant intends to commit tort against one person but

  1. Commits a DIFFERENT tort against same person, or
  2. Commits the SAME tort against a DIFFERENT person, or 3. Commits DIFFERENT tort against DIFFERENT person
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How does transferred intent work?

A

The intent to commit a certain tort against one person is

  1. Transferred to the tort actually committed, or
  2. Transferred to the the person actually injured for purposes of establishing prima facie case
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Transferred intent applies to which torts?

A

Intended AND Resulting tort are:

  1. Assault
  2. Battery
  3. False imprisonment
  4. Trespass to land
  5. Trespass to chattels
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Is incapacity a defense to intent?

A

No! Children, drunk, mentally incompetent… watch out for SYMPATHETIC plaintiffs!

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Def: causation

A

Result must be legally caused by defendant’s act or set in motion by him

Causation if defendant’s conduct was SUBSTANTIAL FACTOR in bringing about the injury

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Elements of battery

A
  1. Harmful or offensive contact – reasonable person standard; NOT implied everyday contact (bumping on a bus); offensive = “unpermitted”
  2. to plaintiff’s person – includes anything connected to plaintiff (purse, cane)
  3. Intent
  4. Causation

**Actual damages are not required – can get nominal and punitive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Elements of assault

A

Act by defendant creating

  1. Reasonable apprehension – NOT fear or intimidation (68 pound weakling); apparent ability is enough
  2. of immediate harmful or offensive contact to plaintiff’s person (fearful of immediate battery)
  3. Intent
  4. Causation

**Actual damages not required – can get nominal and punitive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Assault – effect of words?

A

Words alone are not sufficient. Words must be coupled with conduct. BUT – words can negate apprehension (defendant raises fist but says he won’t hit you)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Elements of false imprisonment

A

Act or inaction on part of defendant that

  1. Confines or restrains plaintiff – time of confinement is irrelevant; plaintiff needs to KNOW or confinement or be harmed by it
  2. to a bounded area – freedom of movement limited in all directions; no REASONABLE means of escape known to plaintiff
  3. Intent
  4. Causation

**Actual damages not required – can get nominal and punitive

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

False imprisonment – What are sufficient acts of restraint?

A
  1. Physical barriers
  2. Physical force
  3. Threats of force
  4. Failure to release
  5. Invalid use of legal authority
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

False imprisonment – What acts are NOT sufficient to confine or restrain?

A
  1. Moral pressure
  2. Future threats
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Elements of IIED

A

Act by defendant

  1. Amounting to extreme and outrageous conduct – transcends all bound of decency
  2. Intent or recklessness
  3. Causation
  4. Damages – severe emotional distress (only intentional tort to person requiring damages)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

IIED – Situations where otherwise normal conduct become outrageous?

A
  1. Continuous in nature
  2. Directed at children, old people, pregnant women, known supersensitive people
  3. Committed by common carriers or innkeepers – person must be passenger or guest
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

IIED – how can a third party bystander recover?

A

Defendant intentionally harms someone and plaintiff suffers severe emotional distress. Plaintiff can recover if:

  1. Bystander was present when injury occurred
  2. Bystander is close relative of injured person
  3. Defendant knew these things
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Elements of trespass to land

A
  1. Physical invasion of plaintiff’s real property – person or object; usable airspace and subsurface. Rocks and flooding yes, intangible no.
  2. Intent – only need intent to enter onto the land (put one foot in front of the other)
  3. Causation

**No actual injury to the land needed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Elements of trespass to chattels

A

Act by defendant that

  1. Interferes with plaintiff’s right of possession in a chattel – INTERMEDDLING (direct damage) or DISPOSSESSION (depriving plaintiff of lawful right of possession)
  2. Intent
  3. Causation
  4. Damages – to chattel or possessory right
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Elements of conversion

A

Act by defendant that

  1. Interferes with plaintiff’s right of possession in chattel
  2. Interference is so serious that defendant should pay full value of chattel
  3. Intent
  4. Causation
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Examples of conversion?

A
  1. Theft
  2. Wrongful transfer
  3. Wrongful detention
  4. Substantially changing, severely damaging, or misusing chattel
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Remedies for conversion?

A
  1. Plaintiff can recover FMV damages
  2. Replevin (possession)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Defenses to intentional torts?

A
  1. Consent
  2. Self-defense
  3. Defense of others
  4. Defense of property
  5. Necessity
  6. Discipline
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Who lacks capacity to consent?

A
  1. Children
  2. Mentally impaired
  3. Coerced/forced
  4. Gives consent based on fraud/mistake
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

False imprisonment – When is inaction enough?

A

There is an understanding that the defendant would act for the plaintiff’s benefit – ex. guy takes lady to shore on ship but won’t provide boat to get

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

How can implied consent arise?

A
  1. Custom and usage – ex. being touched during flag football from reasonable defendant’s POV (wouldn’t matter if plaintiff from Belgium)
  2. Plaintiff’s own conduct
27
Q

When can someone use self-defense?

A

To prevent what she reasonably believes is imminent threat of force against her

Reasonable belief = what a reasonable person in defendant’s position would have believed

28
Q

What level of force can someone use in self-defense?

A

Force reasonably necessary to avoid the threatened harm

Deadly force is only reasonable when defender reasonably believes she is facing deadly threat

29
Q

Rule about retreat before using deadly force?

A
  1. Most cases = STAND YOUR GROUND!
  2. Modern Trend = You must retreat before using deadly force unless in your own home
30
Q

Rule for defense of others?

A

Person can defend another in the same manner and under the same conditions as the person attacked would be able to defend himself

31
Q

What happens if someone mistakenly defends someone else?

A

Defender is not liable if he reasonably believed another person was endangered

Ex. man attacks plain clothes cop who is arresting girl

32
Q

Rule for defense of property?

A

Can use reasonable force to defend real or personal property

**DEADLY FORCE never allowed to protect property alone!!

33
Q

Defense of property – hot pursuit rule?

A

Can use reasonable force to recapture property if you are in hot pursuit of it

34
Q

Defense of property – shopkeeper privilege?

A

Store owner can detain suspected shoplifter

  1. For reasonable amount of time
  2. Using reasonable force
35
Q

Rule for defense of necessity?

A

**ONLY a defense for INTENTIONAL TORTS TO REAL PROPERTY

  1. Public necessity – unlimited privilege to protect lots of people (destroy row of houses to stop fire)
  2. Private necessity – qualified privilege to protect small number of people (crash land in soybean field)
36
Q

Rule for defense of discipline?

A

A parent or teacher can use reasonable force in disciplining children

37
Q

Elements of Common Law Defamation

A
  1. Defamatory statement by defendant that is false – injures plaintiff’s reputation; defendant has BOP of showing falsity
  2. of and concerning plaintiff – reasonably understood to refer to plaintiff; large v. small groups; colloquium if statement not directly about plaintiff
  3. published to third party – communicated to some third person intentionally or negligently. If statement made ONLY to plaintiff, no defamation
  4. Damages – presumed (libel) or special (slander)
38
Q

Types of slander per se?

A
  1. Impugn trade or profession
  2. Accuse of serious crime (punishable by imprisonment)
  3. Loathsome disease
  4. Unchaste woman
39
Q

Common law defenses to defamation?

A
  1. Truth
  2. ABSOLUTE:
    - 2a. Statements made in judicial proceedings
    - 2b. Statements made in legislative proceedings
    - 2c. Statements between spouses
  3. Qualified – during legitimate public debate, statements in interest of recipient (e.g. letter of recommendation)
40
Q

Constitutional limits on defamation?

A

Two extra elements on top of common law defamation when the statement is a matter of PUBLIC CONCERN:

  1. Plaintiff must show statement was false
  2. Plaintiff must prove some level of fault – actual malice (public plaintiff) or negligence (private)
41
Q

Actual malice (constitutional defamation)

A

Knowledge or reckless disregard concerning truth or falsity

42
Q

Parts of defamation?

A
  1. Common law defamation – 4 common law elements
  2. Constitutional defamation – IF matter is of PUBLIC CONCERN, 2 more elements
43
Q

Inducement and Innuendo

A

If a statement is not defamatory on its face: Plaintiff pleads extra facts (INDUCEMENT) to show defamatory meaning by INNUENDO

44
Q

Colloquium?

A

When statement does not obviously refer to plaintiff, extra stuff shown to prove it relates to plaintiff

45
Q

Primary Publisher (defamation)

A

Ex. Newspapers, TV stations

Liable to same extent as author or speaker

46
Q

Secondary Publisher (defamation)

A

Ex. Selling papers or playing tapes

Only liable if it knows or should have known of the defamatory content

47
Q

Who is a public figure (defamation)?

A

Someone who has achieved pervasive fame or notoriety

Voluntarily assumes a central role in a particular public controversy

48
Q

Damages in matter of public concern?

A

All plaintiffs must show ACTUAL MALICE to recover presumed or punitive damages

49
Q

Invasion of the Right to Privacy – Types of wrongs

A
  1. Appropriation
  2. Intrusion
  3. False Light
  4. Public Disclosure of Private Facts
50
Q

Appropriation of Plaintiff’s Picture or Name

A
  1. Unauthorized use of plaintiff’s picture or name
  2. For defendant’s commercial advantage – advertisement, promotion, labels

**Mere economic benefit is not enough

51
Q

Intrusion on Plaintiff’s Affairs or Seclusion

A
  1. Interference with a plaintiff’s seclusion
  2. In a way that a reasonable person would find HIGHLY OFFENSIVE

Plaintiff must be somewhere where this is a reasonable expectation of privacy

Fallback: IIED

52
Q

False Light

A
  1. Widespread dissemination of information that is somehow innacurate
  2. Highly offensive to a reasonable person
53
Q

Public Disclosure of Private Facts

A
  1. Public disclosure of private facts about plaintiff
  2. Must be highly offensive to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities

Doesn’t matter if the statement is true

54
Q

Defenses to Privacy Actions

A
  1. Consent
  2. Absolute & Qualified Privileges – ONLY to false light and public disclosure of private facts
55
Q

Elements of Fraud

A
  1. Affirmative misrepresentation of material fact – silence is generally not enough; material = essential feature of transaction
  2. Scienter – knew statement was false
  3. Intent to induce reliance
  4. Actual and Justifiable Reliance – justifiable to result on OPINION of one with superior skill or knowledge
  5. Damages (if not–no harm, no foul)
56
Q

Elements of Negligent Misrepresentation

A
  1. Misrepresentation by defendant in a business or professional capacity
  2. Breach of duty toward a particular plaintiff
  3. Causation
  4. Justificable reliance
  5. Damages
57
Q

Fraud v. Negligent Misrepresentation

A

In negligent misrepresentation:

  1. Liability confined to commercial transactions
  2. Liability confined to a particular plaintiff whose reliance is contemplated

**N.R. is very hard to prove in the real world!

58
Q

Inducing Breach of Contract

A
  1. Intentional action
  2. that causes a third person to breach an existing contract with plaintiff
59
Q

Interference with Contractual Relations

A

Defendant’s interference with a plaintiff’s contract makes contract more difficult but doesn’t cause breach

60
Q

Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage

A

Interfering with plaintiff’s expectation of economic benefit from third parties, even without a contract

61
Q

Malicious Prosecution

A

Criminal or civil proceeding brought for an improper purpose

62
Q

Abuse of Process

A

Wrongly using any legal process for improper purpose

63
Q

Elements of Negligence

A

Torts (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions