Torts

Question 1

Battery

Answer 1

Intentional infliction of a harmful or offensive bodily contact w a P’s person. Contact may be either direct or indirect.
Whether a contact is harmful or offensive is determined according to an objective, reasonable person standard. A contact is considered offensive only if a reasonable person would not consent to it. There is implied consent for ordinary contacts of every day life.
The contact to a plaintive person includes anything the victim is holding, touching, or connected to.

Question 2

Are actual damages required for battery?

Answer 2

No. Even without actual damages, the plaintiff can recover nominal damages and, if the defendant acted with malice, punitive damages.

Question 3

Elements of an intentional tort

Answer 3

Act by defendant, specific or general intent, causation.

Question 4

Assault

Answer 4

The intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of eminent harmful or offensive bodily contact. Assault requires an act by defendant, Intent to create apprehension or intent to make harmful or offensive contact, reasonable apprehension of eminent battery, causation

Question 5

Apprehension in the definition of assault

Answer 5

Knowledge of imminent harmful or offensive contact, not fear. Apprehension is measured from the plaintiff’s perspective.

Question 6

Are words alone sufficient for an assault

Answer 6

The general rule is that words alone are not sufficient for an assault because words lack immediacy. There must be an overt act by the defendant. Words, however, may negate apprehension even if there is an overt act by the defendant.
Future threats= No imminence so no assault.
Conditional threat sufficient unless the defendant had a legal right to compel the victim to perform the action or the condition expressly negates the defendant’s intention to harm the victim.

Question 7

False imprisonment

Answer 7

Intentional infliction of a confinement where the victim has knowledge of or is harmed by the confinement.
A tortfeasor is subject to liability to another for false imprisonment if she acts intending (specific intent or with knowledge to substantial certainty) to confine the other for a third person within boundaries fixed by the actor, her act directly or indirectly results in such a confinement of the other, and the other person is conscious of the confinement or is harmed by it.

Question 8

Are future threats and moral pressure sufficient acts of restraint for false imprisonment

Answer 8

No

Question 9

Private nuisance

Answer 9

Private nuisance is a substantial and a reasonable interference w P use and enjoyment of her land. D conduct is unreasonable if harm to P outweighs utility of conduct, or the harm caused to P is greater than should be required to bear without compensation. The D’s conduct must also be negligent, abnormally dangerous, or intentional.

Question 10

Trespass to land

Answer 10

Trespass to land is the physical invasion of plaintiffs real property and occurs either when the defendant intentionally enters the Plaintiffs land without permission, The defendant remains on the land without the right to be there Even if original entry was lawful, or if the defendant places a tangible object on, Or refuses to remove from, plaintiffs land without permission. For trespass, a defendant only needs to intend actual entry on the land. It is not required that the defendant intend for the entry to be wrongful.

Question 11

What is an invitee

Answer 11

An invitee is either a person invited onto the land to contact business with the owner or person invited as a member of the public for purposes for which the land is held open to the public.

Question 12

Duty of owners in occupiers of land to invitees

Answer 12

The owner of the land must conduct activities on the property with reasonable care as well as inspect with reasonable care for unknown concealed dangers. (different from duty to licensee)
For known concealed dangers, the owner has a duty to warn.
If a duty is owed, the owner can satisfy the duty of reasonable care by either making the condition safe or issuing a warning of the dangerous condition.

Question 13

To establish a prima facie case of negligence, the plaintiff must prove

Answer 13

Duty, breach of duty, causation, damages.  The duty of care is the legal duty requiring the defendant to act According to a certain standard. The basic standard of care is that of a reasonable person Acting under like circumstances. There is no duty to unforeseeable victims.

Question 14

Negligent infliction of emotional distress

Answer 14

The plaintiff must show that she was in the zone of physical danger created by the defendants negligence. Outside of the zone of danger, a plaintive can only recover if: Plaintiff was present at the scene, Plaintiff observed or perceived the injury, And plaintiff and the injured party are closely related.

Question 15

Defamation

Answer 15

Defamation requires a defamatory statement published by the defendant to a third person that damages the reputation of the plaintiff. When the defamation refers to a public figure Or involves a matter of public concern, The first amendment also requires that the plaintiff show that the statement was false and the defendant was at fault. Faults by the defendant is negligent is it refers to a private person and malice is it involves a public official or figure.

Question 16

Wrongful birth lawsuit versus wrongful life lawsuit

Answer 16

A wrongful birth lawsuit is brought by a parent of a person burdened by a severe birth defect, and the lawsuit is based on the physician’s wrongful failure to notify the parents of the birth defect risk.
A wrongful life lawsuit is brought by A person burden by a severe birth defect, and the lawsuit is based on physician’s wrong for failure to prevent that person’s birth from occurring.

Question 17

False imprisonment requires

Answer 17

The defendant must act either with a specific intent to confine the victim or with knowledge to a substantial certainty that her action or an action would confine the victim. The act confines or restrains the plaintiff to a abouned area. The plaintiff has knowledge of or is harmed by the confinement. Causation.

Question 18

Abnormally dangerous activities

Liability

Answer 18

A person is strictly liable for any harm that occurs while engaging in an abnormally dangerous activity, so long is the harm results from the kind of risk that made the activity abnormally dangerous in the first place. Safety precautions taken by the defendant are completely irrelevant.

Question 19

Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, a land owner will be liable if

Answer 19

The dangerous artificial condition is one of the owner is or should be aware of; the condition exists in a place where the possessor knows or has reason to know that children are likely to trespass; the owner knows or has reason to know that the condition involves an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to such trespassing children; the children, because of their youth, do not discover the condition or realize the risk of danger posed by the condition; the utility to the possessor of maintaining the condition and the burden of eliminating the danger our site as compared with the risk to the children involved; and the other fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the children.