Intentional Torts
List the intentional torts
Battery, Assault, False Imprisonment, Trespass, IIED, Trespass to chattel, Conversion
This defense applies when a defendant acts to protect themselves from immediate harm, using reasonable force.
Self Defense
What is the umbrella rule for negligence
Negligence is the failure to conform to a duty which causes and proximately causes damages
What is the risk utility test?
Which defense completely bars recovery if the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to their harm, regardless of how minimal their fault was."
What is contributory negligence?
What are the elements of battery?
Intent, harmful/offensive contact, causes harm
What is the caveat to the defense of property defense?
You may generally not use lethal force for the sole interest of protecting your property
What is substantial factor causation
Under strict liability, owners of these types of animals are typically liable for harm caused by the animals, regardless of precautions taken.
What are wild animals?
This defense applies in a jurisdiction where a plaintiff can only recover damages if their share of fault is less than 50%, and their recovery is reduced proportionally to their percentage of fault.
What is modified comparative negligence?
What are the elements of False imprisonment
Knowledge from defendant, confined space, threat of physical force, lack of consent, intent
This defense is available when the plaintiff gave explicit or implied permission for the defendant’s actions, barring liability.
Consent
Intervening/superceding, future medical harm, rescuer (What's the exception), eggshell skull, foreseeable plaintiff, manner/type
An activity is considered abnormally dangerous and subject to strict liability if it involves a high risk of harm that cannot be eliminated even with reasonable care. Name one factor courts consider when determining if an activity is abnormally dangerous.
What is the inability to eliminate the risk of reasonable care?
Under this doctrine the plaintiff cannot recover for injuries sustained while doing serious illegal activity if the illegal activity contributede/caused the injury
A person throws a rock intending to frighten someone, but the rock hits and injures another person who was not the intended target. Under this doctrine, the intent transfers to the actual harm caused. What is the name of this doctrine?
The doctrine of transferred intent
This doctrine allows a plaintiff to recover in a negligence case even if they cannot identify a specific negligent act, as long as the harm is of a type that does not ordinarily occur without negligence.
What is Res Ipsa Loquitor
The owner is liable if animal is not fenced in
(In this order, what type of states are those rules for)
This rule applies to when the pre-accident conduct of the victim that is not the cause of the injury, but is the cause of the extent of some of the damages. (If you take away the action, harm would still occur)
Avoidance of consequences
A man at the beach found a woman unconscious in the water. The man performed CPR and revived the woman. However, the woman suffered from osteoporosis that made her unusually susceptible to fractures, and, as a result, she incurred a broken rib from the chest compressions performed as part of the CPR. The woman brought a lawsuit asserting that the man had committed the tort of battery when he performed the chest compressions and broke her rib.
If the court finds that the man is NOT liable for battery, which of the following reasons most likely explains why?
The man did not know that the woman was unusually sensitive to fractures.
The woman’s consent was implied in fact.
The woman’s consent was implied by law.
The woman was unconscious and not aware of the contact.
The woman's consent was implied by law
Two teenagers were visiting an indoor mall in the evening. One of the teenagers found an unlocked door marked “Authorized Employees Only” that led to a maze of hallways behind the mall stores. On impulse, the teenagers hid in the hallways while the mall was closing. Then, once the mall had officially closed and the mall’s external doors were locked, the teenagers returned to the center area of the mall and walked around, looking at the store windows.Which act, if any, was an unlawful entry that could support a claim that the teenagers committed a trespass to land?
None, because the teenagers’ initial entry into the mall was lawful.
Only entering the hallways not authorized for the public to enter.
Both entering the hallways not authorized for the public to enter and returning to the center area after hours.
A doctor was reusing injection needles to give his patients routine steroid injections. One of the doctor’s patients was infected with the hepatitis C virus, a blood-borne pathogen that, in this patient, did not produce obvious medical symptoms. The doctor unwittingly transmitted this patient’s infection to another patient on whom he had used the same needle. This second patient sued the doctor for, among other things, negligence.
Is the second patient likely to prevail in the negligence action?
Yes, the virus was among the foreseeable array of risk
A homeowner purchased a ladder from a hardware store. The homeowner reached from the third ladder step to remove an old light bulb. This caused the ladder to shift and slide on the ceramic tile. The homeowner and the ladder crashed to the floor, breaking the homeowner’s arm.
Which of the following facts, if true, would best support a products liability claim brought by the homeowner against the hardware store?
A state regulation required...
Michael is driving through an intersection when he is struck by Emily’s car. Emily ran a red light and admits she was texting while driving. However, evidence shows that Michael was speeding significantly and did not have his headlights on, even though it was dark. Michael sues Emily for negligence.
Question:
What negligence defense might Emily assert, and how could it affect Michael’s ability to recover damages?
What is comparative negligence?