Tort Concepts
This is the legal term used for wrongdoing in civil court.
What is a tort?
A type of tort where someone intentionally causes harm to another.
What is an intentional tort?
Money awarded to pay for medical bills and lost wages are this type of damages.
What are compensatory damages?
This defense claims that the plaintiff voluntarily accepted a known risk.
What is assumption of risk?
You slip on an unmarked wet floor in a grocery store. This type of tort could apply.
What is negligence?
In a civil case, a defendant is found this, not guilty.
What is liable?
The most common tort, where harm is caused by careless behavior.
What is negligence?
A small amount of money awarded when a legal wrong occurred but little or no actual harm.
What are nominal damages?
When property owners use reasonable force to defend property, it is based on this legal principle.
What is defense of property?
You are injured after voluntarily entering a clearly marked "Danger: Wet Paint" area. What defense could the defendant use?
What is assumption of risk?
Unlike criminal law, tort law is designed primarily to do this for victims.
What is compensate them?
Speaking false statements that harm someone's reputation is called this.
What is slander?
Money awarded to punish the defendant and to deter behavior.
What are punitive damages?
A type of liability where fault does not need to be proven.
What is strict liability?
A person walking a dog knows the dog is aggressive, and it bites someone. Under what type of tort are they liable?
What is strict liability?
In a tort case, the injured party is called this.
What is the plaintiff?
This intentional tort involves entering another person's land without permission.
What is trespass?
The specific part of compensatory damages that covers money actually lost.
What are out-of-pocket damages?
This defense protects someone from liability if they were defending their own safety with reasonable actions.
What is self-defense?
A neighbor throws a rock through your window. This is an example of what tort?
What is an intentional tort?
Tort cases usually go to trial for this reason.
What is disagreement about fault or damages?
This intentional tort involves putting someone in fear of immediate harmful contact.
What is assault?
Returning stolen goods or paying back what was wrongfully taken is called this.
What is restitution?
True or False: Deadly force is always allowed to protect personal property.
What is false?
Locking someone in a room as a joke could be this type of intentional tort.
What is false imprisonment?
The standard of proof in a civil tort case is called this.
What is a preponderance of the evidence?
Both slander and libel are examples of this broader tort category.
What is defamation?
Julio’s mail was illegally read in prison. He would likely win this kind of damages, even if no major financial harm occurred.
What are nominal damages?
The defense that argues a plaintiff contributed to their own injury is called this.
What is comparative negligence?
Throwing a latte on someone would be an example of this type of tort.
What is battery?
Tort law protects these two main interests.
What are rights and property?
To win a defamation case, a plaintiff must prove the defendant made a false statement of fact, not this.
What is an opinion?
Most tort cases are resolved through this agreement before going to trial.
What is a settlement?
If someone voluntarily accepts a known risk, this defense can be raised.
What is consent?
In the McDonald's coffee case, the jury based the $2.7 million punitive damages award on this
What is two days' worth of coffee sales?