DUTY
DEFINITION OF COMMON LAW NEGLIGENCE
when a DEF’s conduct creates an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to others and harm results.
WHO DETERMINES IF THE STANDARD OF REASONABLE CARE IS MET
THE JURY
WHEN THE SOC DOES NOT CHANGE + 3 CASE + FACT
CHILDREN IN SOME JURISDICTIONS = VENESTRA
MENTAL IMPAREMENTS = CREASY + ALZHEIMERS
ASSUMED RISK OF EMPLOYMENT = CREASY + PART OF VOLUNTARY EMPLOYMENT
STATUS NAME + DEFINITION OF THE STATUS THAT A LANDOWNER IS LEAST LIABLE FOR HARMS + LIABILITY
A trespasser enters land without consent, and therefore the DEF owes only a limited duty not to willfully or wantonly harm them.
MODERN MAJORITY APPROACH TO DUTY OF LAND OWNER CASE
SCRUTTI
To establish negligence, the PLNTF must prove five elements:
duty, breach, factual cause, scope of liability, and damages.
CONDUCT OF NEGLIGENCE IS WHAT:
DUTY AND BREACH
COMMON LAW CHILD SOC
Under the common law, a child’s conduct is evaluated by the standard of a reasonably careful child of the same intelligence, age, and experience
TRESPASSERS MAY BE OWED THIS IN SOME JURISDICTIONS UNDER THE TRADITIONAL RULES
Some jurisdictions also require warnings for known, hidden, artificial dangers where the DEF knows trespassers regularly intrude.
UNDER SCRUTI WHAT HAPPENS TO STATUS
Under the majority rule, some states have abolished rigid categories but still allow status to affect the probative weight when evaluating reasonable care
A DEF OWES A PLNTF A LEGAL DUTY TO ACT WITH REASONABLE CARE WHEN
participating in risk creating activities or a special relationship exists between the DEF and the PLNTF.
THE STANDARD OF REASONABLE CARE DOES NOT CHANGE BUT THIS DOES + CASE
THE CIRCUMSTANCES
DUTY OF LANDOWNERS TRADITIONAL APPROACH CASE NAME ONLY AND MAIN IDEA
Under the traditional rule, the PLNTF’s legal status at the time of the injury determines the required standard of care owed by the landowner (Catholic).
MODERN MINORITY APPROACH TO LAND OWNER DUTY IS THIS CASE
ROWLAND
COMMON CARRIERS SOC + REASON + CASE
Common carriers are held to a heightened duty of care given the dependency of passengers and the control exercised by the carrier. (Doser).
BY THE JUDGE AS A MATTER OF LAW
SOC + EMERGENCY SITUATION + CASE
In an emergency, the defendant may receive an “emergency instruction” if the emergency was unforeseeable and not of the defendant’s own making.
The jury still evaluates the defendant’s conduct under the same standard of reasonable care, but in light of the emergency circumstances. (Posas).
An invitee enters the land with the landowner’s consent for business purposes or for a purpose that benefits the DEF.
The DEF owes the invitee a duty of reasonable care, including an obligation to protect the PLNTF from dangers that are known or should have been discovered through reasonable inspection.
These include customers in a store or visitors to a business open to the public.
UNDER ROWLAND, THE MODERN APPROACH TO DUTY OF LANDOWNERS, WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA
Abolished the status categories and required a landowner to exercise reasonable care to all entrants.
ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE DOCTRINE RULE + CASE
(1) when it is foreseeable that children are likely to trespass,
(2) the hazard presents a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of serious physical harm that children are unlikely to recognize,
(3) while the burden of eliminating the danger is slight compared to the risk.
BENNETT
THE DUTY OF REASONABLE CARE:
A DEF has a duty of reasonable care to (1) recognize risks that a reasonable and prudent person would recognize as foreseeable (risk and subjects of risk) and (2) a duty to avoid and minimize risks as a reasonable and prudent person would.
THE STANDARD OF REASONABLE CARE CHANGES FOR THESE THREE SITUATIONS + 3 CASES + 3 FACTS FROM THE CASES (ONE FOR EACH)
PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT = SHEPARD + BLIND MAN
EXPERTISE = HILL + EXPERT IN DRIVING THAT MACHINERY
CHILDREN IN SOME JURISDICTION = VENESTRA = CHILD DRIVER
TRADITIONAL STATUS OF LICENSEE DEFINITION AND LIABILITY AND EXAMPLE
A licensee is a social guest or someone permitted to be on the premises but not for the landowner’s commercial benefit.
The DEF must not willfully or wantonly harm a licensee and must warn of known dangers that the licensee is unlikely to discover on their own.
A HOUSEGEUEST.
RESULT OF TRESPASSERS UNDER ROWLAND
This rule results in even criminal trespassers being owed a duty.
MAIN IDEA OF KENTUCKY + OPEN AND OBVIOUS DANGERS
A landowner is generally not liable for injuries resulting from dangers that are open and obvious, because the PLNTF is expected to take reasonable steps to protect themselves.
However, a duty may still exist if the danger, though obvious, poses a foreseeable unreasonable risk, such as when the PLNTF is distracted, compelled to encounter the hazard, or cannot safely avoid it. (Kentucky).