Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Tort |
A civil wrong that is not a breach of a contract
•Four types of wrongfulness are involved: –Intent –Recklessness– Negligence– Strict liability |
|
|
Tort Basics |
Standard of proof that plaintiff must satisfy in a tort case is preponderance of the evidence
standard •A plaintiff who wins a tort case usually recovers compensatory damages for the harm suffered as a result of defendant’s wrongful act •Particularly bad behavior may result in an award of punitive damages |
|
|
Interference with Personal Rights |
•Battery
•Assault •Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress •False Imprisonment •Defamation •Invasion of Privacy •Misuse of Legal Proceedings •Deceit (Fraud) |
|
|
Battery |
Intentionaland harmful or offensive touching of another without the person’s consent
–No liability if person consented •Contact is harmful if it produces bodily injury, but battery includes non harmful contact that is offensive (reasonable person standard) –Example: Howard v. Wilson case |
|
|
Assault |
Assault occurs when there is an intentional
attempt or threat to cause a harmful or offensive contact with another person, if the attempt causes a reasonable apprehension of imminent battery in other person’s mind •Irrelevant whether threatened contact really occurs, as long as plaintiff had apprehension of immediate or imminent contact –Plaintiff must actually see or feel the potential contact |
|
|
False Imprisonment |
Intentional confinement of another for an
appreciable time without his or her consent –confinement must be complete, though a few minutes is enough –no liability if plaintiff consented to confinement •Example: Pope v. Rostraver Shop and Save –Defendant’sconduct did not constitute a confinement as required by the elements of false imprisonment and plaintiff never tested the reasonableness of her belief of confinement |
|
|
Defamation |
Defamation is an unprivileged publication of false and defamatory statements concerning
another person •Libel refers to written defamation and slander refers to oral defamation •Truth is a complete defense in a defamation case |
|
|
Defamation (2) |
Another defense to defamation is privilege
–An absolute privilege include those made by participants in judicial proceedings or legislative proceedings, by certain executive officials in the course of their duties, and by one spouse to the other in private –A conditional privilege protects statements made to protect or further the legitimate interests of another and statements made to promote a common interest •(See Airlines Corp.v. Hoeper) |
|
|
Invasion of Privacy |
Invasion of privacy refers to four distinct torts:
–Intrusion on Solitude or Seclusion •Applies only with reasonable expectation of privacy –Public Disclosure of Private Facts –False Light Publicity –Commercial Appropriation of Name or Likeness (SeeJordanv. Jewel Food Stores) |
|
|
Misuse of Legal Proceedings |
Three intentional torts protect people against the harm that can result from wrongfully instituted legal proceedings:
–Malicious prosecution: wrongful institution of criminal proceedings –Wrongful use of civil proceedings: wrongfully instituted civil suits –Abuse of process: imposes liability on those who initiate legal proceedings, whether criminal or civil, for a primary purpose other than the one for which the proceedings were designed |
|
|
Deceit (Fraud) |
Deceit (or fraud) is the formal name for the tort claim available to victims of knowing or
intentional misrepresentations –Often tied to a breach of contract claim –Requires proof of false statement of material fact, knowingly or recklessly made by defendant with intent to induce reliance by the plaintiff, along with actual, justifiable, and detrimental reliance on plaintiff’s past |
|
|
Interference with Property Rights |
•Trespassto Land•PrivateNuisance•Conversion
|
|
|
Trespass to Land |
Any unauthorized or unprivileged intentional
intrusion upon another’s real property, including physically entering plaintiff’s land, causing another person or object to do so, remaining on the land after one’s right to remain has ceased, and invading airspace above land or subsurface below –Intent required for liability is simply the intent to be on the land, so a person maybe liable even if the trespass resulted from a mistaken belief that entry was legally justified |
|
|
Private Nuisance |
Involves some interference with plaintiff ’s use and enjoyment of the land
Unlike trespass to land, nuisance does not require a physical invasion of the property –Includes odors, noise, smoke, light, vibration •Liability requires the interference to be intentional, substantial and unreasonable |
|
|
Conversion |
Defendant’s intentional exercise of dominion or control over plaintiff’s personal property without plaintiff’s consent through:
–Acquisition–Removal–Transferto another– Withholding possession– Destruction or alteration– Use |
