Business Law - Chapter 6, Parts 2 & 3: Intentional Torts Against Property, Negligence

Intentional Torts Against Property

Trespass to land, trespass to personal property, conversion, and disparagement of property.

Real Property

Land and anything attached to the land.

Personal Property

Everything other than real property.

Trespass to Land

Entering onto, above, or below another person's land without permission; causing something to enter it; or remaining or leaving something on it without permission.

Is Actual Harm Required for Trespass to Land?

No. Actual damage to the land is not required.

Trespasser

A person who does not have a legal right to be on another person's land.

Trespasser Liability

A trespasser is liable for damage they cause.

Landowner Liability to Trespassers

A landowner is generally not liable for injuries suffered by a trespasser.

Defenses to Trespass to Land

The trespass was warranted, such as helping someone in danger, or the person had a license or invitation.

Breaking the Plane of Property

Entering onto, above, or below another person's land can constitute trespass to land.

Trespass to Personal Property

Wrongfully taking, harming, or interfering with another person's personal property.

Example of Trespass to Personal Property

Taking property from another person's desk without permission.

Defense to Trespass to Personal Property

The interference was legally warranted, such as through a mechanic's lien.

Conversion

Depriving an owner of personal property or the use of that property without permission.

Trespass vs. Conversion

Taking personal property is trespass; retaining or keeping it is conversion.

Conversion After Permitted Possession

Conversion can occur even when the original possession was permitted if the person later refuses or fails to return the property.

Good Intentions and Conversion

Good intentions are not a defense to conversion.

Disparagement of Property

An economically harmful false statement about another person's product or property.

Slander of Quality

A false statement claiming that a product is not what the seller says it is.

Slander of Title

A false statement casting doubt on another person's ownership of property and causing financial loss.

Negligence

Harm caused by failing to exercise the level of care that a reasonable person would exercise.

Is Intent Required for Negligence?

No. Negligence is an unintentional tort.

Foreseeable Risk in Negligence

A foreseeable risk is required; if the risk was not foreseeable, there is no negligence.

Four Elements of Negligence

Duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Negligence Mnemonic

D-B-C-D: Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages.

Duty

The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care.

Duty of Care

Everyone has a duty to avoid harming others or their property.

Breach

The defendant failed to live up to the required duty of care.

Foreseeability and Duty

The duty of care applies to foreseeable risks that the defendant knew or should have known about.

Reasonable Person Standard

The objective standard courts use to determine whether a defendant breached a duty of care.

Duty of Landowners

Landowners must use reasonable care to protect people on their property and warn them about foreseeable risks.

Duty of Business Owners

Business owners have a duty to use reasonable care to protect people who come onto their property.

Professional Duty of Care

Professionals with special skills, such as accountants and lawyers, are held to a higher duty of care.

Malpractice

Professional negligence; a professional's breach of the higher duty of care required by their profession.

Causation

The defendant's breach must have actually caused the plaintiff's injury.

Two Parts of Causation

Causation in fact and proximate cause.

Causation in Fact

The actual-cause requirement determined using the "but for" test.

But-For Test

But for the defendant's act, the plaintiff's injury would not have occurred.

Actual Cause

Another name for causation in fact.

Proximate Cause

Asks whether the plaintiff's injury was a foreseeable result of the defendant's actions.

Foreseeability and Proximate Cause

The connection between the defendant's act and the plaintiff's injury must be sufficiently foreseeable to impose liability.

Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.

The classic case used to illustrate foreseeability and proximate cause.

Causation in Fact vs. Proximate Cause

Causation in fact uses the "but for" test; proximate cause asks whether the injury was foreseeable.

Damages Element of Negligence

The plaintiff must suffer a legally recognizable injury.

Can Negligence Exist Without Legally Recognized Injury?

No. Without injury or damages, there is nothing to compensate.

Compensatory Damages

Damages intended to make the plaintiff whole.

Punitive Damages

Damages intended to punish extreme misconduct and deter others.

Good Samaritan Statutes

Laws protecting people who reasonably provide emergency assistance to someone in need.

Dram Shop Acts

Laws that can make a bar liable for serving an intoxicated patron.

Social Host Liability

Liability that may extend to hosts of private parties who provide alcohol.

Negligence Defense: Missing Element

The defendant can argue that one or more of the four required elements of negligence is missing.

Affirmative Defenses to Negligence

Assumption of risk, superseding cause, and contributory or comparative negligence.

Assumption of Risk

A negligence defense based on the plaintiff knowingly accepting a particular risk.

Superseding Cause

An intervening event that can break the causal connection between the defendant's act and the plaintiff's injury.

Contributory Negligence

A rule under which a plaintiff who contributed to their own injury recovers nothing.

Comparative Negligence

A rule under which damages are divided according to each party's percentage of fault.

Comparative Negligence Calculation

Plaintiff's damages × defendant's percentage of fault = plaintiff's recovery.

Comparative Negligence Example

If damages are $400,000 and the plaintiff is 10% at fault, the plaintiff recovers 90%, or $360,000.

Sample Question 1: Taking property is trespass; keeping it is conversion.

True.

Sample Question 2: Breaking the plane of another person's property can be trespass to land.

True.

Sample Question 3: Helping someone in danger can be a defense to trespass.

True.

Sample Question 4: A store unknowingly buys stolen goods and may be ordered to return them or pay the owner. What tort applies?

Conversion.

Sample Question 5: Proximate cause exists if "but for" the wrongful act, the injury would not have occurred.

False. The "but for" test determines causation in fact; proximate cause concerns foreseeability.

Sample Question 6: Negligence requires the defendant to intend to harm the plaintiff.

False.

Sample Question 7: Landlords and business owners have a special duty of care toward people on their property.

True.

Sample Question 8: If no legally recognized injury results from negligence, there is no compensable tort.

True.

Sample Question 9: What standard determines whether a duty of care was breached?

The reasonable person standard.

Sample Question 10: David is a passenger in an accident but is not injured. What is Catherine's strongest negligence defense?

David was not injured.

Sample Question 11: Good Samaritan statutes were passed largely to protect whom in emergency situations?

Physicians and medical personnel who provide emergency assistance.

Sample Question 12: Jennifer has $400,000 in damages and is 10% at fault under comparative negligence. How much does she recover?

$360,000.