Civil Law

tort

wrongful act/ infringement of a right (other than contract); leading to civil legal liability

• person vs person

• organization vs organization

• person vs organization… etc

unintentional torts

tort; unintentional

negligence

failure to use reasonable care, resulting in damage/ injury to another

duty of care

legal/ moral obligation to take reasonable steps to avoid causing harm to others

• taking precaution & acting with care

neighbor principle

person must take reasonable care to avoid actions/ omissions that could harm their neighbor

foreseeability

asks how likely it was that a person could have anticipated the potential or actual results of actions

contract law

agreement between 2+ persons

• creates an obligation to do/ not do a thing

negligence

omission to do something a regular person would do

crim negligence vs negligence

crim negligence

• govt legally involved

negligence

• person vs person

plantiff

person suing

defendant

person who (allegedly) caused harm

civil cases require

8 jures (75%)

civil cases

• contract

• divorce

• custody

• personal injury

civil vs criminal

civil

• liability

• leads to fines

criminal

• guilt

• leads to jail/ death

burden of proof

• based on a balance of “probabilities”

• judge/ jury listens to both sides & weighs evidence to make decision

"beyond reasonable doubt" vs "balance of probabilities"

"beyond reasonable doubt"

• criminal

• evidence must leave the judge/ jury with no reasonable doubt that accused committed the crime

• Level of certainty: 95% - 100%

"balance of probabilities"

• civil

• judge decides who is more likely to be right

• Level of certainty: 51% +

family

• married couple (w or w/o never-married children)

• unmarried couples (have lived together 2+ years); (1 yr for tax benefits)

• lone parent w/ never-married children

family law

• deals with breakdown of family relationships

• involves divorce or custody gareements

• lawyers not requird

  • used to “mediate” and better knowledged