Business Law Chapter 9

actual cause

The direct cause of harm, meaning the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's actions, also known as "but-for" causation.

Example: A driver runs a red light and hits a pedestrian. But for the driver running the red light, the pedestrian would not have been injured.

Assumption of the risk

A defense claiming that the plaintiff voluntarily chose to participate in an activity knowing it carried certain risks, and therefore cannot hold the defendant liable for injuries resulting from those risks.

Example: A person who signs a waiver before going skydiving cannot sue the skydiving company if they are injured during a normal jump.

Compensator damages

Money awarded to a plaintiff to compensate them for actual losses and injuries suffered as a result of the defendant's negligence.

Example: A person injured by a negligent driver receives money to cover their hospital bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.

Contributory negligence

A traditional defense where if the plaintiff is found even slightly at fault for their own injury, they are completely barred from recovering any damages.

Example: A pedestrian who was texting while crossing the street is hit by a speeding driver. Under contributory negligence, the pedestrian may recover nothing because they were partly at fault.

Dram shop acts

Laws that hold bars, restaurants, and other alcohol vendors liable for injuries caused by customers they served alcohol to irresponsibly.

Example: A bar continues serving alcohol to a visibly drunk customer who then drives home and causes an accident. The bar can be held liable under dram shop laws.

Good Samaritan statutes

Laws that protect people from liability when they voluntarily provide emergency assistance to someone in need.

Example: A bystander performs CPR on a stranger having a heart attack. If they accidentally break a rib, Good Samaritan laws protect them from being sued.

Gross negligence

An extreme or reckless disregard for the safety of others that goes far beyond ordinary negligence.

Example: A surgeon who performs an operation while intoxicated demonstrates gross negligence.

Last-clear-chance doctrine

A rule that allows a plaintiff who was negligent to still recover damages if the defendant had the last opportunity to avoid the harm and failed to do so.

Example: A person is standing negligently in the middle of a road. A driver who sees them with enough time to stop but fails to do so is still liable because they had the last clear chance to avoid the accident.

Modified comparative negligence

A rule that allows a plaintiff to recover damages reduced by their percentage of fault, but only if their fault does not exceed a certain threshold, usually 50%.

Example: A plaintiff found to be 30% at fault for an accident can still recover 70% of their damages. However if they are found 51% at fault they recover nothing.

Negligence

The failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonable person would use in similar circumstances, resulting in harm to another person.

Example: A grocery store fails to clean up a spill for hours and a customer slips and breaks their arm.

Negligence per se

A legal doctrine that automatically establishes negligence when a defendant violates a statute designed to protect a specific group of people from a specific type of harm.

Example: A driver who runs a red light and injures a pedestrian is automatically considered negligent because they violated a traffic law designed to protect people.

Proximate cause

The legal cause of harm, meaning the defendant's actions were closely enough related to the injury that it is fair to hold them legally responsible.

Example: A driver negligently runs a stop sign and hits another car. The negligent driving is the proximate cause of the other driver's injuries.

Pure comparative negligence

A rule that allows a plaintiff to recover damages reduced by their percentage of fault, regardless of how much at fault they were, even if they were 99% responsible.

Example: A plaintiff found to be 80% at fault for an accident can still recover 20% of their total damages.

Reasonable person standard

The legal benchmark used to evaluate negligence by asking how a reasonable and prudent person would have behaved in the same situation.

Example: A court asks whether a reasonable person would have put up a fence around a swimming pool to prevent children from falling in.

Res ipsa loquitur

A legal doctrine meaning "the thing speaks for itself," which allows negligence to be inferred from the nature of the accident when it would not normally occur without someone's negligence.

Example: A patient wakes up from surgery to find a surgical sponge was left inside their body. The situation itself suggests negligence without needing further proof.

Strict liability

Legal responsibility imposed on a defendant regardless of intent or negligence, typically applied to abnormally dangerous activities or defective products.

Example: A company that manufactures fireworks is held strictly liable when one of their products explodes and injures someone, even if they followed all safety procedures.

Unfortunate accident

An event that causes harm but occurs without negligence or fault on anyone's part, meaning no one can be held legally liable.

Example: A tree branch falls during an unexpected storm and damages a neighbor's car. Because no one was negligent, it is considered an unfortunate accident.

Punitive damages

Money awarded beyond actual losses to punish a defendant for especially reckless or malicious behavior and deter similar conduct in the future.

Example: A company that knowingly sold a defective product and covered it up is ordered to pay punitive damages on top of compensatory damages.