1 TORTS I COURSE MATERIALS Professor Nancy Levit Fall 2009 ` Story Suite, 2-411 816-235-2391 (o) Office Hours: Anytime E-mail: [email protected] TORTS I SYLLABUS 2009 1. Policies of Tort Law and Procedural Devices What Is Tort Law? pp. 2-3 Reading Torts Cases: Trial Procedures Motion to Dismiss Motion for Summary Judgment Objections to Evidence and Offers of Evidence Motion for Directed Verdict Proposed Instructions and Objections to Them Motion N.O.V. Motion for New Trial pp. 22-27 (up to Appendix) 2. Intentional Torts Battery pp. 35-43 Leichtman v. WLW Jacor Communications (Supp. pp. 60-62) pp. 43-56 Assault pp. 57-61 False Imprisonment pp. 61-64 Intentional Infliction of Mental Distress pp. 510-518 Trespass to Land, Conversion, Trespass to Chattels pp. 65-71 Civil Rights Violations pp. 71-77 3. Defenses to Intentional Torts Self-Defense, Defense of Third Persons, Arrest and Detention pp. 78-83 Defense of Property and Recapture of Chattels pp. 83-87 Discipline pp. 87 Consent pp. 88-95 Bailey v. Belinfante (Supp. pp. 63-64) Public and Private Necessity pp. 96-103 Negligence pp. 105-08 Duty of Care pp. 108-24 Negligence Per Se (―Specification of Particular Standards or Duties‖) pp. 124-37 Breach pp. 138-1603 Proof: Witness Testimony and Custom Evidence pp. 161-177 Flom v. Flom (Supp. p. 65) Res Ipsa Loquitur pp. 177-193 Damages pp. 194-197 Copeland v. Compton (Supp. p. 66) Causation Cause in Fact pp. 197-217 Proximate Cause pp. 218-250 Pryor v. Tunc Problem (Supp. p. 67) Defenses to Negligence Actions Contributory and Comparative Fault pp. 252-278 Assumption of Risk pp. 279-291 Rickey v. Boden (Supp. pp. 68) Edmonds v. Schlag Problem (Supp. p. 70) Statutes of Limitation pp. 292-310 Compliance with Statute pp. 311-12 Disabled Student Services UMKC endeavors to make all activities, programs and services accessible to students with disabilities. A Campus Coordinator for Disabled Student Services is available to arrange for reasonable accommodations. If you need accommodations, it is important that you contact the Coordinator as soon as possible to arrange for providing appropriate documentation and the prescribing of reasonable accommodations in the classroom and for exams. For information call (816) 235-5696. Speech and hearing impaired use Relay Missouri, 1-800-735-2966 (TT) or 1-800-735-2466 (Voice.) For questions or further information, see Adela Fleming in the Law School Administrative Suite.4 It is understood by the student whose Student Number is entered below that this examination is given and the student‘s response is made and submitted pursuant to the conditions and provisions of the Honor Code. Student Exam No. ______________ UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY SCHOOL OF LAW TORTS I Fall Semester, 2007 Professor Levit MIDTERM (1 hour) Instructions 1. Read each question carefully and pay close attention to the facts and to what the question is asking you to do. Discuss all issues presented by a question. Remember to argue issues both ways. Do not engage in a discussion of issues not raised. 2. I have included all of the facts I think you will need to answer the questions. If a necessary fact is missing, please identify it in your answer and explain how it affects your conclusion. 3. Nothing is intentionally ambiguous. If anything about a question appears to be ambiguous, decide what you think is meant, tell me what you think is meant, and answer the question accordingly. No reasonable resolution of an ambiguity will be penalized. 4. Please write legibly, because I can only give credit if I understand what you write. Only answers written in the blue book will be given credit. 5. Think before you write. Organize your answer. You get extra points for clarity and succinctness. You are penalized for an answer that is disorganized and confusing. 6. In answering this exam you may use your casebook, any supplementary materials handed out for class, and any outlines or notes you yourself have prepared. You may not use commercially prepared outlines or hornbooks. The applicable law is the law of this State, the State of Bliss, which consists of all cases in your casebook and any cases discussed in class. 7. TURN IN THIS EXAMINATION WITH YOUR BLUE BOOKS. Good luck!5 Question 1: Multiple Choice (10%) DIRECTIONS: Choose the single best answer from among the choices given in questions 1-5. Write or type only the letter of the best answer in your Bluebook or on your paper. 1. D saw his classmate P carrying a pile of books he suspected P had stolen from his locker. The books in fact belonged to P. D said to P ―Let me see those books.‖ When P refused, D reached out to grab them, but P who was a black belt in karate and not afraid of D, scowled and dodged away from D without being touched. A. D has committed no tort against P because he was privileged to use reasonable force to recover chattel he reasonably believed to be his. B. D has committed no tort against P because P suffered no fear of a harmful or offensive contact. C. Both A and B are true. D. D has committed an assault on P because P experienced anticipation of a harmful or offensive bodily contact. E. D has committed no tort against P because he attempted only to grab books P was holding, not to harm or offend P himself. 2. D was celebrating the fourth of July by shooting a gun in the air in a sparsely populated semi-rural area. One of the bullets fell through the roof of a neighbor‘s house striking P in the foot. A. D has not committed a battery because although he was recklessly increasing the risk of harming someone, he was not substantially certain that a contact would occur. B.