Business Law Unit 7

What is Civil Litigation full of?

Claims in the areas of contract and tort

What does the law attempt to do in the case of Tort Law?

Attempts to balance the harms done by rewarding damages to a successful plaintiff

What are the different kinds of Torts?

Intentional Torts - deliberately causing harm

Negligent Torts - carelessly causing harm

Strict Liability Torts - liability without fault

What is the purpose of Tort Laws?

To compensate individuals for harm caused by others’ wrongful or negligent acts.

What is a nuance of Torts?

Not all wrongdoings trigger a tort and thus remedies

How was Tort Law developed?

Common Law

Tort Law vs. Criminal Law

How are they similar and different?

Similar: Many wrongdoings are both criminal and tortious
Difference:

• Tort is a private civil wrong

• Crime is a public wrong against society

What is a Crime vs. Tort? What is the penalty for committing it?

• Crime is a public wrong against society

• Penalty: Imprisonment

• Tort is a private civil wrong against an individual

• Penalty: Monetary Compensation

What are the Dimensions of Tort Liability?

Faults

• Intentional

• Negligent

• Strict Liability

Nature of Injury

• To people

• To Property

Excuses

Damages

• Compensatory (money)

• Punitive (punishment)

What are the different Types of Damages?

Compensatory (money)
Punitive (punishment)

What are the Types of Intentional Torts?

Assault and Battery
False Imprisonment
Intentional Infliction of emotional distress
Trespass and nuisance
Intentional Interference with contractual relations
Malicious prosecution
Defamation
Invasion of Privacy

What is Assault and Battery?

• Assault: Threat of physical harm

• Battery: Intentional physical harm

What does Assault usually result in?

Battery

What is Trespass and Nuisance?

Trespass:

• Intentionally going on land that belongs to someone else

Nuisance:

• Deliberately causing inconvenience or annoyance

What are the Four Elements necessary for Intentional Interference with Contractual
Relations?

1. A valid and enforceable contract exists

2. The defendant knows about the contract

3. The defendant intentionally causes one party to breach or disrupt the contract

4. Damages to the plaintiff

What is Defamation?

Injury to a person’s good name or reputation

What is Invasion of privacy?

Wrongful intrusion into a person's private life without consent

What is the legal obligation for individuals in tort law regarding Negligence?

Duty of care

What is the problem with Negligence?

Difficult to determine

What are the elements of the Tort of Negligence?

• Breach of the duty of due care (“Reasonable Man”)

• Connections between cause and injury

• Proof of damage or loss

In negligence cases, what are some common excuses or defenses that can completely or
partially relieve a defendant of liability? (full)

Complete

• Assumption of risk:

  • Plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily accepts a known danger, they can’t later sue

• Act of God

  • Harm happens because of a natural disaster

Partial

• Contributive negligence:

  • Plaintiff also acted carelessly, contributing to their own harm

• Comparative negligence:

  • Both the defendant and the plaintiff are partly at fault, the plaintiff’s damages are reduced according to their share of fault

Special Case

• Vicarious liability

  • A superior is held responsible for the wrongful acts of someone under their control

What are the Six Cumulative Requirements Necessary for Strict Liability

1. Product must be defective when the defendant sells it

2. Defendant must normally sell or distribute that kind of product

3. Product must be unreasonably dangerous to the user because of its defective condition

4. Plaintiff was physically harmed by using the product

5. Defect caused the injury or damage, not something else

6. The product was not substantially changed after it was sold.

What are the contractual aspects in general when it comes to Title and Risk of Loss?

Contracts provide lots of freedom
Parties have an economic interest in specifying transaction details

Why is the transfer of Title important?

• A sale cannot occur without a shift in title

• The title determines whether creditors may take the goods

• Insurable interest

What is Insurable Interest?

Having a financial stake in goods, so that you would suffer a loss if they were damaged or destroyed

According to the UCC and CISG, when do title and risk of loss transfer from the seller to the buyer in a sales contract?

Title and risk of loss transfer only when the goods are clearly identified to the contract.

UCC: Title cannot pass before identification

CISG: Risk cannot pass until the goods are clearly identified

According to the UCC, how and when does title (ownership) transfer from the seller to the
buyer?

Title passes when the parties agree, or if not stated:

• When the seller completes delivery (for goods to be moved)

• When the document of title is delivered, or when the contract is made (for goods not to be moved).

What is the general problem with transferring the title from non-owners?

Two innocent parties battle over the goods

What is the basic rule when transferring title from non-owners?

No one can give what they do not have

What are the two ways out of the dilemma with transferring title from non-owners?

Seller with a voidable title

• A person with a voidable title can pass a good title to a good-faith buyer.

Entrustment

• If you trust a merchant with your goods, and they sell them to a good faith buyer, that buyer gets good title, even if you didn’t agree to the sale.

What does Risk of Loss mean?

Who has to pay or who bears the risk, if the goods are lost or destroyed without the fault of either party

How can parties pass the Risk of Loss?

Parties can agree on the passing of risk of loss

What is the difference between “sale on approval” and “sale or return”?

Sale on approval:

• Risk of loss stays with the seller until the buyer accepts

Sale or return:

• Risk of loss passes to the buyer, but the buyer can return unsold goods.

What is the UCC default position on the Risk of Loss

• Risk of loss passes when the seller has completed obligations under the contract

• Delivery