California Bar Exam: Torts

Front 1

Battery Prima Facie Case:

Back 1

1. Harmful or offensive contact;
2. To plaintiff’s person;
3. Intent; and
4. Causation

Actual damages are not necessary; fear or apprehension is not necessary (thus, if plaintiff is unconscious at time of contact, still a battery)

Front 2

False Imprisonment Prima Facie Case:

Back 2

An intentional act or omission on the part of the defendant that confines or restrains plaintiff to a bounded area.

Sub-Rules: the area must be bounded in 360 degrees with no known reasonable escape. The imprisonment may result from physical force, threats of force, physical barriers, failure to release, and invalid use of legal authority.

Time of confinement is only relevant in assessing damages.

Front 3

Assault Prima Facie Case:

Back 3

1. An act by the defendant creating a reasonable apprehension in plaintiff;
2. Of immediate harmful or offensive contact to plaintiff’s person;
3. Intent; and
4. Causation

Front 4

NIED

Back 4

The duty to avoid negligent infliction of emotional distress is breached when a defendant creates a foreseeable risk of physical injury to the plaintiff, either by 1) causing a threat of physical impact that leads to emotional distress or 2) by directly causing severe emotional distress that by itself is likely to result in physical symptoms.
The threat of physical impact must be directed at the plaintiff or someone in her immediate presence. Normally, for the plaintiff to recover based on injury to someone else, the plaintiff and the person injured must be closely related; the plaintiff must have been present at the scene; and the plaintiff must have observed or perceived the injury.

Front 5

Strict Liability:

Back 5

Exists in three types of cases:

1. Products Liability: (strict liability theory)
2. Wild Animals
3. Unusually dangerous things or activities

Only defenses: assumption of the risk (unforeseeable misuse of the product) OR comparative negligence. Contributory negligence is not a defense to strict liability.