Tort Law Basics: Duties, Breach, Damages, and Defenses
Duties in Tort Law
- Tort law explains what happens when one person’s wrongful action causes harm to another.
- Two central questions:
- What counts as something wrong (duty perspective)?
- What counts as damage (harm perspective)?
- The transcript uses a casual example: if you do something wrong and someone suffers, you should pay for the damages caused.
- The speaker briefly notes a mispronunciation in the transcript: uses the word "toddler" where the intended term is likely "tort" law.
Duties in Tort Law
- Duties are formalized as what the speaker calls "you shouldn’t" statements.
- Examples of duties mentioned:
- You shouldn’t cause physical harm to others.
- You shouldn’t take other people’s stuff.
- You shouldn’t fall below the standard of a decent person when doing your job.
- The law gives these statements a formal name: duties.
- A breach of duty occurs when you do something you shouldn’t have done.
Breach of Duty and Liability
- When you breach your duty to someone, the law requires you to pay for damage that arises from that breach.
- The example frame: touching someone’s face leading to hospital bills and lost income can be damages, but not everything a plaintiff asks for is recoverable.
- The law is careful in calculating damages and may limit them based on various factors.
Damages: What Counts and Not
- Damages must be connected to the breach (causation).
- The law narrows damages in certain situations:
- Example 1: You punch someone lightly, but a nearby car explodes. The law may say you did not cause that damage, so you aren’t responsible for the car destruction.
- Example 2: The victim develops PTSD after the punch. The law may deem this type of damage too remote (not sufficiently caused by the act) for recovery.
- Example 3: The harmed person begs you to punch them; this can serve as a defense for the defendant (consent can limit liability).
- The examples illustrate that not every consequence of an act is compensable; causation and foreseeability matter.
- Real-world damages typically discussed include medical bills and lost wages, but the law doesn’t automatically cover all possible harms.
Causation and Remoteness
- Causation: the wrongdoing must cause the damage for liability to arise.
- Remoteness/foreseeability: some damages are too distant or unforeseen to be recoverable even if caused by the act.
- The transcript emphasizes that the law judges whether damages are a direct result of the breach or if they are too remote.
- Consent can serve as a defense to liability: if the plaintiff explicitly agrees to the harm (e.g., begs for the punch), liability may be reduced or eliminated.
- The transcript acknowledges that the concept of defense is deeper in actual law beyond the simplified example provided.
Practical Examples from the Transcript
- Example A: A light punch leading to an explosion of a nearby car – not recoverable because the car’s damage was not caused by the punch.
- Example B: PTSD as a consequence of the punch – may be considered too remote to recover.
- Example C: The injured party requests the harm – consent acts as a defense to liability.
Summary and Real-World Relevance
- Core idea: when duties are breached, victims may be compensated for damages arising from that breach.
- The law also limits liability to prevent unfair or unforeseeable consequences from being charged to the wrongdoer.
- Ethical takeaway: individuals have a duty not to harm others; consent and warnings can modify liability.
Exam Prep Questions
- What are the two parts of the tort law idea presented in the transcript?
- How are duties defined in this context? Give examples.
- What constitutes a breach of duty?
- How can damages be limited? Provide the three transcript examples.
- What is the defense of consent, and how can it affect liability?