Torts: Introduction and Intentional Torts

These flashcards cover the key concepts and definitions related to tort law, including types of torts, damage categories, and fundamental legal principles.

Tort Law

Body of law that provides remedies for civil wrongs not arising from contracts.

Intentional Torts

Deliberate acts that invade protected interests, such as battery and defamation.

Negligence

Failure to exercise reasonable care, causing harm.

Strict Liability

Liability without fault, applicable to dangerous activities or defective products.

Compensatory Damages

Restore the injured party to their prior position before the harm, including special and general damages.

Punitive Damages

Awarded to punish outrageous conduct and deter future misconduct.

Nominal Damages

Small awards recognizing a wrong occurred, even without measurable loss.

Duty of Care

Legal obligation to act with reasonable caution to avoid foreseeable harm.

Reasonable-Person Test

Standard used to measure negligence compared to what a hypothetical reasonable person would do.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Negligence presumed when injury could not occur without negligence and the defendant had control.

Negligence Per Se

Violation of a statute automatically constitutes a breach of duty.

Actual Cause (Cause-in-Fact)

Determined by the 'but-for' test; if harm would not have occurred but for the defendant’s conduct.

Proximate Cause (Legal Cause)

Limits liability to harms that were reasonably foreseeable.

Strict Liability

Imposed without proof of negligence or intent, applied to inherently dangerous activities.

Product Misuse

Defense to strict liability when a product is used in an unforeseeable way.

Assumption of Risk

Defense that the plaintiff knowingly accepted the danger.

Defamation

False statements harming a person's reputation, classified as libel (written) or slander (spoken).