Torts - Past Exams & Boilerplate Language

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Louisiana Torts, including intentional torts, negligence, strict liability statutes, and special claims like Medical Malpractice and Product Liability.

Intent

The subjective state of mind where the offender either desires the consequences of his act or knows that the consequences are reasonably certain to result.

Transferred Intent

The legal doctrine where intent can transfer from tort to tort or person to person, though it never applies to Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED).

Battery

Intentional contact with the Plaintiff's person or something closely connected that is harmful or offensive to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.

Assault

The intentionally created reasonable apprehension of an imminent battery, where the tortfeasor must reasonably appear to be able to complete the battery.

False Imprisonment

The intentional, actual, and complete confinement of a person, though the existence of a reasonable means of escape limits liability.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

Extreme and outrageous behavior beyond the toleration of reasonable members of society that causes the plaintiff severe emotional distress.

Trespass to Land

The intentional physical entrance onto the property of another, categorized as Good Faith (necessity/no knowledge) or Bad Faith.

Trespass to Chattel

Intentional interference with an owner's dominion or use/enjoyment of personal property; damages are measured by compensation for the damage or use.

Conversion

Interference with a chattel significant enough to cause a forced sale; the measure of damages is the full value of the chattel.

Defamation

A false and defamatory statement regarding the plaintiff, communicated to a third party (publication), involving fault and resulting in injury to reputation.

Defamation per se

A category of defamatory statement where falsity and malice are presumed because the words involve accusations of criminal conduct or naturally injure person/professional reputations.

Actual Malice

Knowledge of the falsity of a statement or reckless disregard for the truth, required for public officials and public figures to recover for defamation.

Absolute Privileges (Defamation)

Privileges limited mostly to parties present at judicial or legal proceedings, applying to matters properly before the body.

Invasion of Privacy

A tort comprising four types: intrusion upon solitude, appropriation of name/likeness, publicity given to private life, and publicity placing a person in a false light.

Malicious Prosecution

A tort requiring the bona fide termination of a prior criminal or civil proceeding in favor of the plaintiff, which was initiated without probable cause and with malice.

Abuse of Process

A tort involving an ulterior purpose and a willful act in the use of legal process that is not proper in the regular conduct of the proceeding.

Consent

A defense that vitiates intent, which can be express or implied but is invalid if obtained through fraud, duress, or misrepresentation.

Self-Defense

An objective standard allowing an individual to use reasonable force to defend themselves when a reasonable person would conclude it is necessary.

Public Necessity & Taking

A privilege where government must compensate persons for seizure of property under the 5th and 14th Amendments unless seized for destruction.

Duty-Risk Formulation

Louisiana's negligence framework defined by five elements: cause-in-fact, traditional duty, scope of the duty, breach, and injury.

Res Ipsa Loquitor

A legal doctrine meaning 'the thing speaks for itself,' allowing negligence to be inferred from the accident when such events ordinarily do not occur without negligence.

Foreseeability (Negligence)

The primary test for scope of duty/risk, asking if the result was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the conduct without the benefit of hindsight.

Eggshell Skull Plaintiff

A doctrine stating that the tortfeasor takes the plaintiff as he finds them, making the defendant liable for all damages even if the harm is an unlikely or remote occurrence.

Intervening and Superseding Cause

An action occurring between negligence and injury (intervening) that rises to a level where it eliminates the defendant's responsibility (superseding).

Hand Formula

A risk-utility balance used to determine breach by evaluating if the expected loss (risk times loss) exceeds the burden or cost of a precaution.

Pure Comparative Fault

A system where each party is responsible only for their allotted share of fault, even if the party is absent or immune, as per La. Civil Code articles $2323$ and $2324$.

Watson Factors

Six factors used by the factfinder to allocate percentage of fault, including the capacity of actors and the relationship between the fault and the harm.

Louisiana Merchant Liability Act (LMLA)

LA RS $9:2800.6$, which imposes a negligence standard on merchants to keep premises free from hazardous conditions.

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED)

Bystander claims governed by La. CC art. $2315.6$ for family members who witness an accident or arrive shortly after and suffer severe emotional distress.

Vicarious Liability

Employer responsibility under CC $2320$ for torts committed by employees within the course and scope of the employment relationship.

Workers' Compensation Immunity

An exclusive remedy for employees against employers for work-related injuries, barring civil lawsuits except for intentional acts, horseplay, or personal disputes.

Garde

Under Article $2317.1$, the notion that one is responsible for things in their custody or control when a defect creates an unreasonable risk of harm.

Survival Action

A tort action allowing designated beneficiaries to recover damages that the victim could have recovered had they survived, such as pain and suffering.

Wrongful Death Action

An action brought by beneficiaries for their own damages, such as lost love and financial support, resulting from the decedent's death.

Louisiana Product Liability Act (LPLA)

The exclusive theory of recovery against manufacturers for damages caused by products that are unreasonably dangerous in construction, design, warning, or warranty.

Lost Consortium Damages

Recovery by family members for lost love, companionship, affection, and the value of services result from a direct injury to a relative.

Qualified Healthcare Provider (QHCP)

A provider who provides proof of $100,000$ insurance coverage and pays into the Patient Compensation Fund, benefitting from liability caps and medical review panels.

Medical Review Panel (MRP)

A pre-trial panel consisting of 3 physicians and 1 non-voting attorney that determines if a QHCP deviated from the professional standard of care.

Coleman v. Deno

The Louisiana case defining medical malpractice through six specific factors, including whether the wrong was treatment-related and required expert testimony.

Lost Chance Theory

A theory of recovery in medical malpractice where the causation element is met if the malpractice led to a lost chance of survival.

Material Risks

Risks that a reasonable patient in the same position would attach significance to when deciding whether to undergo treatment, triggering the doctrine of informed consent.