Torts - Part 1(more)

Torts - Part 1 Notes

Study Questions

1. Basic Elements of a Tort Claim: Key elements of a tort claim include duty, breach of that duty, causation, and harm.
2. Duty to Others: A duty exists when individuals are required to act or refrain from acting to avoid harming others.
3. Breach of Duty: Courts determine breaches of duty by evaluating whether the defendant acted with reasonable care under specific circumstances.
4. Causation in Tort Law: Causation links the breach of duty to the harm caused. It's assessed through factual and proximate cause.
5. Intentional Torts: These are torts where harm is caused deliberately, such as battery or assault.
6. Property Owner Duties: Property owners must adhere to certain duties to ensure the safety of their visitors based on their classification (invitee, licensee, trespasser).
7. Negligence Proof: In some cases, negligence does not need proof, like in strict liability cases.
8. Unique Damage Rules: Certain tort claims have unique rules for damage, which may affect how claims are quantified.

Torts - The Basics

A tort refers to a civil wrong that is distinct from a breach of contract. Many actions categorized as torts can overlap with criminal offenses; however, they remain separate legal grounds for action. Common torts include personal injury claims, libel, slander, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, and trespass. A person who commits a tort is known as a tortfeasor.

Elements of Negligent Tort Claims

The fundamental components of a negligence tort claim include:

• Duty: Obligation to adhere to a standard of care.
• Breach: Failure to meet that obligation, typically due to negligence.
• Causation: Establishing a direct link between the breach and harm.
• Harm: Actual damage inflicted on another person.

Negligence is defined as failing to meet society's standard of reasonable care in a specific context. The complexity of real-world scenarios results in no universal rules for negligence, with the specifics of each situation being key.

Duty and Legal Obligations

In the US, our primary legal obligation is to avoid actions that could injure individuals or their property. This does not extend to a duty to rescue someone in peril, which implies that bystanders generally have no responsibility to assist, barring specific circumstances. The doctrine of assumption of risk also implies that individuals engaging in inherently risky activities assume the associated risks, limiting the defendant's duty to prevent injury.

Intentional Torts

Intentional torts are those wherein the wrongful act is deliberate rather than negligent. Among these, key examples include:

• Battery: Physical contact meant to harm or offend.
• Assault: Intentionally causing fear of imminent harm.
• Conversion: Deprivation of someone else's property.

Emotional Distress and Malicious Prosecution

• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Requires that the defendant acted outrageously, intentionally, or recklessly causing severe emotional harm.
• Malicious Prosecution: Occurs when someone initiates a lawsuit or legal action without merit, resulting in injury to the plaintiff when the action is resolved in their favor.

Defamation

Defamation entails communicating false statements that damage another's reputation, categorized into:

• Libel: Defamation occurring through written or published statements.
• Slander: Defamation occurring through spoken words.

Elements of Defamation

The plaintiff must demonstrate:

• A false statement presented as the truth.
• Negligence in publishing this statement to a third party.
• Damage to the plaintiff's reputation.

Certain types of defamation, known as defamation per se, do not require proof of special damages and include accusations of serious crimes or immoral conduct.

Negligence Analysis

Negligent torts are evaluated mainly through a reasonable person standard to determine if the defendant's actions fell short of what a prudent person would do in similar circumstances. Factors influencing this assessment include the defendant's experience, location, and circumstances at the time of the incident.

The Learned Hand Formula

Developed in the case of US v. Carroll Towing, this formula helps assess negligence by balancing:

• P (Probability of accident) × L (Magnitude of injury) > B (Burden of preventing the accident).
  If the cost to prevent the incident exceeds the expected loss, liability may ensue.

Professional Negligence (Malpractice)

This occurs when professionals fail to perform their duties as an average, competent professional would, requiring expert testimony to establish what is considered reasonable conduct within the profession.

Res Ipsa Loquitur

This doctrine permits the inference of negligence when the circumstances imply that negligence caused the harm. The key elements include:

• The incident doesn’t typically happen absent negligence.
• The incident was caused by something only in the defendant's control.
• The plaintiff did not contribute to the accident.