Torts Mnemonics

Front 1

Torts are done IN SIN

Back 1

I – Intentional harm to a person (e.g. assault, battery, false imprisonment, or the
intentional infliction of emotional harm)
N – Negligent conduct causing personal injury, wrongful death, or prop damage
S – Strict tort liability (see the mnemonic A SWAN)
I – Intentional harm to property (e.g. trespass, conversion, or the tortious
interference with a contract)
N – Nuisance

Front 2

Tortious conduct has a RING to it

Back 2

R – Reckless
I – Intentional
N – Negligent
G – Grossly Negligent

Front 3

A D’s FIT conduct is unreasonable/negligent when P was within his foreseeable zone
of danger

Back 3

F – Failure to take reasonable precautions in light of foreseeable risks
I – Inadvertence
T – Thoughtlessness

Front 4

To establish a negligence claim, P must mix the right DIP

Back 4

D – Duty to exercise reasonable care was owed by the D to the injured P and the D
breached this duty (and for a negligence claim the duty is always to conform to the
legal standard of reasonable conduct in light of the apparent risks)
I – Physical Injuries to the P or his property (damages)
P – P’s injuries were Proximately caused by the D’s breach of duty

Front 5

A parent is liable only for the torts of a SICK child

Back 5

S – in an employment relationship where a child commits a tort, while acting as a
Servant or agent of the parent.
I – where the parent entrusts or knowingly leaves in the child’s possession an
Instrumentality that, in light of the child’s age, intelligence, disposition and prior
experience, creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others.
C – where the parent knows of child’s tortious conduct and directs, approves or
Consents to it
K – where the parent has the ability to control the child, but fails to exercise that
control even though the parent Knew of the infant’s violent tendencies, which could
endanger a 3P

Front 6

F CLIPS can “cause” negligence

Back 6

F – Factual causes
C – Concurrent causes of the P’s injuries
L – Legal causes (Restatement language for both cause-in-fact & proximate cause)
I – Independent intervening causes (a.k.a. superseding cause)
P – Proximate causes
S – Successive causes

Front 7

LARGE C.D.2s are played in negligence

Back 7

L - Last clear chance
A - Assumption of risk
R - Res ispa loquitor
G - Guest statute
E - Emergency doctrine
C - Comparative or contributory negligence
D - Dram shop act
D - Dangers invites rescue

Front 8

A plaintiff can find res ipsa loquitor in a PEA

Back 8

P – Probability that the plaintiff was injured through no fault of his own
E – D had Exclusive control over the instrumentality that caused the injury
A – Absent negligence, the injury would not have occurred

Front 9

The Emergency Doctrine arises only in the U.S.

Back 9

U – Unanticipated; and
S – Sudden Emergency

Front 10

CRAM conduct on NY realty equals strict tort liability

Back 10

C – Construction
R – Repair
A – Alteration
M – Maintenance

Front 11

A municipality is liable for a RAID “special relationship”

Back 11

R – P’s justifiable Reliance on municipality’s promise or on its affirmative undertaking
A – Either expressly or impliedly, through promise or action, municipality Assumed a
DIP duty to act for the P’s benefit
I – The municipality knew that it’s Inaction could foreseeably harm P
D – Some Direct contact between the P & the municipality

Front 12

A SWAN is strictly liable in tort

Back 12

A – Abnormally Dangerous Activity
S – Strict Products Liability
W – Worker’s job related injury (Worker’s Comp)
A – Injuries caused by wild Animals or vicious domestic animals
N – Neg Per Se

Front 13

In determining whether a domestic animal has demonstrated vicious propensities,
the court looks at whether the animal has in the past sung with the B.G.s

Back 13

B – Bitten someone
G – Growled at someone
S – Snapped at someone

Front 14

Put out the malicious prosecution MAT

Back 14

M – Malice (spite or meanness) in instituting or continuing a criminal prosecution
A – Absence of PC upon which P could be successfully prosecuted
T – Termination of the malicious prosecution in favor of accused, either on the merits
or as the result of a dismissal “not inconsistent with the accused’s innocence”

Front 15

If you inflict emotional harm, you’ll have a SAD CEO

Back 15

CEO – D's intentional or reckless CEO (Conduct that was Extreme and Outrageous)
exceeding all bounds usually tolerated by a decent society, and
SAD – D’s conduct caused P to suffer SAD (Severe And Debilitating) emotional
anguish

Front 16

An MBE landowner will have a different duty to an injured person, depending on
whether the person was LIT

Back 16

L – Licensee
I – Invitee
T - Trespasser
*Note – This is NOT the rule in NY

Front 17

A plaintiff has the privilege to SIT on one’s property in response to a

Back 17

S – Serious and
I – Immediate
T – Threat
*But note – even though a D who “SIT”s is not trespassing, liability will be imposed
for any resulting damages

Front 18

Person who RAN onto P’s property is liable in trespass only if D’s entry caused harm
to the land

Back 18

R – Recklessly
A – As the result of Abnormally dangerous activity
N – Negligently

Front 19

Only a KID can be sued for Tortuous Interference of a K

Back 19

K – D had Knowledge of the K;
I – D Intentionally induced a contracting party to breach that K; and
D – Damages resulted from the breach of the existing, enforceable K

Front 20

A CLIP invades privacy

Back 20

C – Commercial misappropriation of P’s name, likeness, or voice w/o P’s written
permission (& compensation); taking commercial advantage of a living person’s
reputation, prestige, or some other value associated w/ P’s name or likeness w/o
compensating him or her for it
L – False Light publicity that unreasonably places P in highly objectionable false light
before the public
I – Highly offensive Intentional intrusion into another’s seclusion or solitude
P – Public Disclosure of highly offensive & deeply shocking private facts that are of
no legitimate interest to the public

Front 21

In slander actions, special damages must be pleaded and proven, unless those
spoken words are CLAMS (slander “per se”)

Back 21

C – Falsely accusing the P of committing a serious Crime
L – Falsely stating that P has an existing (not former) communicable, Loathsome
disease (e.g., a sexually transmitted disease)
A – Making a false statement that Adversely reflects on P’s trade or business.
M – Falsely accusing P of Moral turpitude
S – Falsely accusing P of serious Sexual misconduct (male or female)

Front 22

A defamer is privileged when she has JET LEG

Back 22

J – Defamatory Statements in the course of a Judicial proceeding
E – Confidential defamatory communications spoken between spouses who are
deemed one Entity, when a spouse is sued for defamation
T – Truth
L – Statements by Legislators made in legislative chambers
E – Executives of state, local or federal governmental or administrative agencies
making defamatory statements in furtherance of their official duties
G – Statements made to Bar Association Grievance Committees

Front 23

A defamer gives LIP to a qualified privilege

Back 23

L - Lower echelon officials of government agencies
I – A false statement in which the speaker & listener had some common Interest in
the subject matter of conversation (and the defamatory statement must be pertinent
to the parties’ common interest & made to further or protect that interest)
P – Defamatory statements made to the Police or District Attorney about P’s criminal
activity

Front 24

No-Fault pays up to $50,000 for a LOT

Back 24

L – Lost earnings/wages for up to 80% of injured person’s salary ($2,000/mo
maximum, for lost wages up to three years from the date of injury)
O – Other out-of-pocket expenses relating to the injury
T – Treatment Expenses

Front 25

A serious injury is F2UN 3D

Back 25

F – Loss of a Fetus
F – Bone Fracture
U – Medically-determined permanent & total limitation on Use of body member or
organ
N – Medically-determined injury of a Non-Permanent Nature that prevents the
injured person from performing substantially all of her usual daily activities for
NINETY out of the first 180 days following the accident
D – Death
D – Serious Disfigurement, which, when viewed by an RPP, would be unattractive,
objectionable, or the object of pity or scorn
D – Dismemberment

Front 26

An insurance company does not have to pay no-fault benefits to a person injured by
FIFI’S M.D.

Back 26

F – A person Fleeing a lawful arrest
I – A person who Intentionally caused her own injury
F – Accidents occurring during Felonies, but a conviction or guilty plea is required to
allow the NF carrier to disclaim
I – A person operating a vehicle while Intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, which caused
the accident
S – A person knowingly operating or occupying a Stolen vehicle
M – A driver or passenger of a Motorcycle (but pedestrians hit by motorcycles are
covered)
D – Drivers participating in a Drag race