Tort Law

Question 1

Battery

Answer 1

the intentional causation of harmful or offensive contact with another’s person without that person’s consent. This is an example of an intentional tort

Question 2

Comparative Negligence

Answer 2

A tort rule for allocating damages when both parties are at least somewhat at fault. In a situation where both the plaintiff and the defendant were negligent, the jury allocates fault, usually as a percentage. this system has replaced the old rule of contributory negligence.

Question 3

Contributory Negligence

Answer 3

A plaintiff was totally barred from recovery if they were in any way negligent in causing the accident, even if the negligence of the defendant was much more serious. Today, the most common rule is comparative negligence.

Question 4

Damages

Answer 4

In tort law, a remedy in the form of monetary compensation to the harmed party.

Question 5

Fault

Answer 5

In civil law - negligence, want of care, an improper act or omission, injurious to another, and transpiring through negligence, rashness, or ignorance.

Question 6

Intentional Tort

Answer 6

A type of tort that can only result from an intentional act of the defendant (as opposed to a negligent one).

Question 7

Negligence

Answer 7

A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act.

Question 8

Products Liability

Answer 8

American law holds the manufacturers of consumers strictly liable for injuries caused by manufacturing products.

Question 9

Punitive Damages

Answer 9

Punitive damages are awarded in awarded in addition to actual damages in certain circumstances. Punitive damages are considered punishment and are awarded when the defendant’s behavior is found to be especially harmful, but are normally not awarded in the context of a breach of contract claim.

Question 10

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Answer 10

Latin for “the thing speaks for itself”. In tort, a principle that allows plaintiffs to meet their burden of proof with what is, in effect, circumstantial evidence. The plaintiff can create a rebuttable presumption of negligence by the defendant by proving that the harm would not ordinarily have occurred without negligence, that the object that caused the harm was under the defendant’s control, and that there are no other plausible explanations.

Question 11

Strict Liability

Answer 11

Rule providing that if you cause an injury by a deliberate act, even if you did not mean to cause injury and were careful, you are liable to compensate the injured party.

Question 12

Substantive Tort Law

Answer 12

• Private law made by judges
• Modified by state statutes
• Empowers victims of injury to receive justice

Question 13

Corrective Justice

Answer 13

• Seeks to redress wrongs by placing the injured person back in the situation he was in before he was injured
• status quo ante

Question 14

Distinctive Feature

Answer 14

• preference for imposing liability only where someone is at fault
• numerous pragmatic exceptions

Question 15

Three Main Categories

Answer 15

1. injuries stemming from intentional acts
2. injuries stemming from negligent
3. injuries stemming from dangerous activities or defective consumer products

Question 16

Tort Lawsuits

Answer 16

• can damage reputations
• time-consuming
• people sue just for revenge, annoyance, or easy money

Question 17

Lawsuit Frequency

Answer 17

More lawsuits, but…

• don’t want to be hassled
• don’t have access to lawyers
• can’t manage the distractions

Question 18

U.S. Healthcare

Answer 18

• no free health care for ordinary
• no job guarantees for injured workers

Social Security Disabillity

• didn’t exist for Mr. Brown
• amounts from state small compared to suit

Question 19

U.S. Lawsuits

Answer 19

Defendant

• hire a private lawyer
• pay large hourly fee
• 10x or more of typical worker

Question 20

American Tort Law

Answer 20

• Requires that those who bring a civil suit prove that the person who injured them was at fault
• The Fault System
• If an accident was the result of negligence, there would be liability

Question 21

Negligence

Answer 21

• Builds on a 19th century concept articulated by Judge Shaw
• Defined as a breach of the duty of care owed to others, which causes injury to a third person or a person’s property

Duty Owed
The duty of the reasonable person of ordinary prudence under the circumstances

Question 22

Intentional Torts

Answer 22

• Battery
• Assault
• False Imprisonment
• Trespass to land and chattel
• Conversion or Civil Theft
• Infliction of emotional distress
• Defamation
• Invasion of privacy
• Interference with contract

Question 23

Strict Liability for Injuries

Answer 23

Person keeping wild animals
• strictly liable if an animal bites a guest

Person working with blasts or explosions
• strictly liable for injuries at business

Question 24

Liability Based on Fault

Answer 24

• American tort law eases the burden of proving Fault

* Not practical for injured person to prove exactly how injured through negligence

Question 25

Fault-Based Liability Exceptions

Answer 25

• automobile drivers are required to have “no-fault” insurance policies
• workers injured at work due to the routine negligence of their employers are not permitted to sue
Worker’s compensation insurance system

Question 26

Tort Law

Answer 26

• A just response for the need of society to compensate, to deter, and to punish injury
• Empowers individuals, injured through intentional, negligent, and dangerous activities, to file civil complaints with the courts
• Seek financial payments and other remedies from blameworthy private parties or state, local, and federal governments