Basics of Tort Law
Term for "crimes" between individuals.
What is tort?
When the victim is placed in fear or apprehension of immediate bodily harm by another.
What is assault?
Any compensation paid to the victims of a tort. May be compensatory, punitive, or nominal.
What are damages?
The element of negligence where the harm caused to a plaintiff must be reasonably foreseeable and not too far attenuated from the original incident.
What is proximate cause?
An obligation placed on individuals to act with reasonable care in interactions with persons and property.
What is duty?
The test that compares the actions of the defendant with those of a reasonable person of ordinary carefulness and prudence in a similar situation.
What is the reasonable person test?
A tort that involves an offensive or harmful, unconsented-to touching.
What is battery?
Damages designed to penalize the responsible party for extremely outrageous actions.
What are punitive damages?
When an employee is injured on the job, this is the employee's only remedy against the employer even if the employer was negligent.
What is worker's compensation?
The part of tort law that is concerned with the compensation of victims of accidents caused by the carelessness of others.
What is negligence?
The two types of cause needed for the "causation" element.
What are cause-in-fact and proximate cause?
A tort for victims who were injured emotionally by the repeated and extreme wrongful acts of others.
What is intentional infliction of emotional distress?
Involves the voluntary acceptance of the victim to a known danger he or she encounters.
What is assumption of the risk?
The doctrine that imposes liability on the manufacturer/seller of a product sold in a defective condition.
What is product liability?
Involves a purposeful interference with someone else's legally recognized right, such as assault, IIED, false imprisonment, and defamation.
What is an intentional tort?
The element where the injured party must show actual harm was suffered.
What is the 'damages' element?
Tort that involves any false written or spoken statement communicated to others that harms a person's good name or reputation.
What is defamation?
A court order preventing someone from performing a particular act or demanding they do something.
What is an injunction?
The doctrine that holds a defendant liable for injuries to a victim even though they did not intend the harm and were not negligent.
What is strict liability?
A person violating the standard of reasonable care is liable only for harm caused that is this, not harm that is far removed from the original tort or that occurs after a long string of events triggered by the tort.
What is reasonably foreseeable?
When a person violates the basic standard of care in an interaction with another person or another person's property.
What is breach?
Where a public official must prove not only that the statement was false, but that the journalist knew it was false or recklessly disregarded the truth. This gives journalists extra protection.
What is the actual malice test?
When the injured party was not careful enough to ensure their own safety and contributed to the injury, and therefore may not receive compensation.
What is contributory negligence?
The burden of proof in civil cases.
What is "by a preponderance of the evidence?"