Intentional Torts & Negligence

Front 1

Elements of a tort

Back 1

1. duty owed
2. breach of that duty
3. proximatly causing
4. injury or damage of interest

Front 2

Puntitive damages

Back 2

damages over and above amount necessary to compensate plaintiff

Front 3

Intent (tort law)

Back 3

actor desires to cause the consequences of his act or he believes consequences almost certain to result from it

Front 4

Battery

Back 4

intentional infliction of harmful or offensive bodily contact

Front 5

Assualt

Back 5

intentional conduct by one person directed at another that places the other in apprehension of imminent bodily harm or offensive contact (usually befoer battery, but battery not required for assault)

Front 6

False imprisonment

Back 6

intentionally confining a persona against her will within fixed boundaries if the person is conscious of the confinement or harmed by it

Front 7

Recklessness

Back 7

conduct that evidences a conscious disregard of or an indifference to the consequences of the act committed

Front 8

Defamation

Back 8

false communication that injures a person's reputation by digracing him and diminishing the respect in which he is held

Front 9

Elements of Defamation

Back 9

1. false/defamatory statement
2. unprivileged communication (to third party)
3. neglegince or recklessness (for private/public figures)

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Libel

Back 10

handwritten, typewritten, printed, pictoral, or similar medium (TV/radio) defamatory communication (requires publication)

Front 11

Slander

Back 11

spoken or oral defamatory communication (requires publicaiton)

Front 12

Absolute Privelage
(defamation defense)

Back 12

against:
1. statements made by participants in a judicial proceeding
2. statements made on floor of Congress (by Congress member)
3. statements by certain executive branch officers performing certain duties
4. statements regarding a third party between spouces (when alone)

Front 13

Conditional Privelage
(defamation defense)

Back 13

against statements made to protect her own legitimate interests or the interests of another in some cases

Front 14

Constitutional Privelage
(defamation defense)

Back 14

against defamatory and false statements about public officials or public figures as long as it is done without malice

Front 15

Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA)

Back 15

grants immunity to Internet service providers from liability for defamation when publishing information originated from a third party (board posts)

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Appropriation

Back 16

unauthorized use of another person's name or likeness for one's own benefit (ex: promotion/advertising)

Front 17

Intrusion

Back 17

unreasonable and highly offensive interference with solitude and seclusion of another (improper entry, eavesdropping, unathorized examination of private records, etc.)

Front 18

Public disclosure of private facts

Back 18

publicity given to private information about another, if the matter made public would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person (requires a higher level of publicity than defamation)

Front 19

False Light

Back 19

highly offensive publicity placing another in a false light if defendant knew that matter publicized was false or acted in reckless disregard of the truth (also publicized rather than published (defamation))

Front 20

Malicious prosecution/
wrongful civil proceedings

Back 20

liability for damages for improperly brought proceedings, including harm to reputation, credit, or standing, and lawsuit expenses/emotional distress

Front 21

Abuse of process

Back 21

using a legal proceeding to accomplish a purpose for which the proceeding is not designed

Front 22

Real Property

Back 22

land and anything attached to it (buildings, trees, minerals, etc.)

Front 23

Trespass to real property

Back 23

intentionally:
1. enter/remain on land in possession of another
2. causes a thing or a third person to so enter or remain
or 3. fails ot remove from the land a thing that he is under a duty to remove

Front 24

Nuisance

Back 24

nontrespassory invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land (ex: emission of odor, smoke, dust, gas, or pollution)

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Personal Property

Back 25

any type of property other than an interest in land

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Trespass to personal property

Back 26

intentional dispossession or unauthorized use of the personal property of another (1. dispossesses the other of the propery, 2. substantially impairs its condition, quality, or value, or 3. deprives posessor the use of property for substantial time)

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Conversion

Back 27

intentional excercise of dominion or control over another's personal property that so seriously interferes with other's right of control as justly to require the payment of full value for the property

Front 28

Interference with contractual relations

Back 28

interfereing intentionally and improperly with teh performance of a contract by inducing one of the parties not to perform it

Front 29

Disparagement

Back 29

imposes liability upon one who publishes a false statement that results in harm to another's monetary interests if the publisher knows that the statement is false or acts in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity

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Fradulent Misrepresentation

Back 30

liability for monetary loss caused by a justifiable reliance on a misrepresentation of fact intentionally made for the purpose of inducing the relying party to act

Front 31

Negligence

Back 31

conduct that falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm

Front 32

Elements for negligence
(plaintiff must prove)

Back 32

1. Breach of duty or care
2. Proximate cause
3. Injury

Front 33

Duty to act

Back 33

not required to act unless relationship is: carrier-passenger, inkeeper-guest, employer-employee, store-customer, or parent-child. Also duty to act exists if person's conduct has injured another and left him helpess and in danger of future harm

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Duty to trespasser

Back 34

Person who enters/remains on land of another without permission: not liable for injury as a result of failure to maintain land, but must excercise reasonable care for saftey in carrying on activities

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Duty to licensee

Back 35

Person who is privileged to enter or remain on land only by virtue of the lawful possessor's consent: must warn of dangerous activities and conditions that possessor has knowledge or reason to know and licensee is not likely to discover

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Duty to invitee

Back 36

Person invited upon land as a member of the public or for a business purpose: excercise reasonable care to protect against dangerous conditions owner should know about and invitee is unlikely to discover

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Res Ipsa Loquitur

Back 37

"the thing speaks for itself" if an event is of a kind that ordinarily would not occur in the absense of negligence and other possible causes are sufficiently eliminated by evidence

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But For Rule

Back 38

a person's conduct is a cuase of an event if the event would not have occurred but for the person's negligent conduct

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Unforseeable consequences

Back 39

even if the defendant's negligent conduct is a cause in fact of harm to the plaintiff, the conduct is not a proximate cause unless the defendant could reasonably have anticipated injuring the plaintiff or a class of persons of which the plaintiff is a member

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Superseding cause

Back 40

if an intervening cause (after defendant's negligent conduct) is deemed superseding, it relieves the defendant of liability for that harm

Front 41

Contributory negligence
(negligence defense)

Back 41

only a few states: if negligence of plaintiff is at all combined with negligence of defendant, plaintiff cannot recover at all (unless defendant had a last clear chance to avoid injury)

Front 42

Pure comparative negligence
(negligence defense)

Back 42

damages are divided between the parties in proportion to the degree of fault or negligence found against them

Front 43

Modified comparative negligence
(negligence defense)

Back 43

the plaintiff recovers as in pure, unless her contributory negligence was equal to or greater than that of the defendant, in which case the plaintiff recovers nothing

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Express assumption of the risk

Back 44

plaintiff expressly agress to assume the risk of harm from the defendant's conduct (usually through contract)

Front 45

Implied assumption fo the risk

Back 45

plaintiff voluntarily proceeds to encounter a known danger (ex: going to baseball game)-new restatement does not allow this as a defense to negligence

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Abnormally dangerous activity
(strict liability)

Back 46

1) necessarily involves a high degree of risk of serious harm to others which can't be eliminated by excercising reasonable care and 2. is not a matter of common usage

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Trespassing animals

Back 47

Strictly liable except: cats and dogs are only negligence, not for animals straying from a highway on which they are driven, and not for farm animals who graze freely (in some western states)

Front 48

Nontrespassing animals

Back 48

Wild animal owners are always strictly liable (monkeys, tigers, deer, lions, etc.), domestic animals are liable if the knew or should have known of an animal's dangerous propensity

Front 49

Products liability

Back 49

all manufacturers are strictly liable for thier products (however, comparative negligence can be a defense with product liability)