Assignment 6: Navigating Legal and Regulator Risk

What is tort?

A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a legally protected right.

What is criminal law?

applies to acts that society deems so harmful to the public welfare that government is responsible for prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators

WHat is misdemeanor?

punishable by a monetary fine or short-term imprisonment

What is civil law?

applies to legal matters not governed by criminal law

protects rights and provides remedies for breaches of duty other than crimes

What is unintentional tort?

negligence

can be the result of carelessness, ignorance, or accidents.

What is intentional tort?

actions or omissions that the tortfeasor intended, although the consequences of such actions may not be intended.

What is a felony?

major crime involving long-term punishment

What are contracts?

legally enforceable agreements between two or more parties

establish the responsibilities of each party involved in the contract.

What are four basic requirements must be met for contract?

Agreement (including offer and acceptance)

Consideration

Capacity to contract

Legal purpose

What is common law legal system?

judge interprets the facts of a case examines precedents (prior judicial rulings in similar cases), and makes a decision based on the facts in the current case.

What is implied contract?

A contract whose terms and intentions are indicated by the actions of the parties to the contract and the surrounding circumstances.

What is express contract?

A contract whose terms and intentions are explicitly stated.

What is valid contract?

A contract that meets all of the requirements to be enforceable.

What is void contract?

An agreement that, despite the parties' intentions, never reaches contract status and is therefore not legally enforceable or binding.

What is voidable contract?

A contract that one of the parties can reject (avoid) based on some circumstance surrounding its execution.

What is enforceable contract?

A contract that is a valid contract but that, because of a technical defect, cannot be enforced.

What is public international law?

A law that concerns the interrelation of nation states and that is governed by treaties and other international agreements.

What is private international law?

A law that involves disputes between individuals or corporations in different countries.

What is compensatory damages?

A payment awarded by a court to reimburse a victim for actual harm.

What is comity?

practice by which one country recognizes, within its own territory or in its courts, another country’s institutions.

What is personal jurisdiction?

based on whether the person or entity is present in the country or has committed the act in question in that country.

What is special damages?

A form of compensatory damages that awards a sum of money for specific, identifiable expenses associated with the injured person's loss, such as medical expenses or lost wages.

What is general damages?

A monetary award to compensate a victim for losses, such as pain and suffering, that does not involve specific, measurable expenses.

What is punitive/exemplary damages?

A payment awarded by a court to punish a defendant for a reckless, malicious, or deceitful act to deter similar conduct; the award need not bear any relation to a party’s actual damages.

What is specific performance?

A court-ordered equitable remedy requiring a party to perform a certain act, often—but not always—as a result of breach of a contract.

What is injunction?

A court-ordered equitable remedy requiring a party to act or refrain from acting.

What is loss prevention?

A risk control technique that reduces the frequency of a particular loss.

What is contract of adhesion?

Any contract in which one party is put in a “take-it-or-leave-it” position and must either accept the contract as written by the other party or reject the contract entirely.

What is subrogation?

The process by which an insurer can, after it has paid a loss under the policy, recover the amount paid from any party (other than the insured) who caused the loss or is otherwise legally liable for the loss.

What is hazard?

A condition that increases the frequency or severity of a loss.

What is loss reduction?

A risk control technique that reduces the severity of a particular loss.

What is privilege?

A rule of law allowing a person to refuse to disclose confidential communications.

What is immunity?

A defense that, in certain instances, shields organizations or persons from liability.

What is comparative negligence?

A common-law principle that requires both parties to a loss to share the financial burden of the bodily injury or property damage according to their respective degrees of fault.

What is last clear chance doctrine?

An excuse for a plaintiff's contributory negligence that holds the party who has the last clear chance to avoid harm and fails to do so solely responsible for the harm.

What are types of risk avoidance?

stopping a current activity or never starting the activity

Modifying the Likelihood of Tort Liability

Waivers

Hold-harmless agreements

Exculpatory agreements

Unilateral notices