Definition an omission failure to act or a wrongful act other than a breach of contract against a person or his property Tortfeasor person who committed the tort or Joint Tortfeasors more than one committed the tort o Joint and Several liability makes it easiest for the plaintiff to get the money recover o You are responsible for everything if someone has a bad heart you are responsible for Purpose of Tort Law To compensate the innocent victim Civil action it s private law Liability joint tortfeasors Egg Shell Theory that frailty Deep Pocket Theory o Sue as many people as you can Three Theories of Tort Liability Intentional Torts o Assault placing someone in reasonable apprehension of impending or imminent harm o Battery intentional unprivileged contact with another person Example getting shot in Example waving a gun around the leg bullet contact ill Example can t eat sleep etc o Mental Distress someone is exposed to such outrageous conduct they become physically o False Imprisonment intentionally placing the defendant somewhere with no reasonable means of escape for an unrealistic amount of time o Malicious Prosecution False Arrest police law enforcement arrest you without having anything on you they wanted to intentionally harass you o Defamation communicating a false statement to a 3rd party about someone Libel written defamation permanence of form way more damaging Public Figure news worthy can write about them but not false things Movies and Radio can be considered libel have to prove actual malice they did it on purpose Slander verbal oral defamation wrong was spoken once which makes it less damaging Satire exemption to defamation o Fraud Five Elements Misstatement Material Fact Reasonably Relied Upon Resulting in Damage Detriment or Injury Scienter intent o Trespass To Land going on someone else s land To Personal Property someone intentionally uses the property of someone without their permission if you steal someone you can RETURN it o Conversion take the personal property of someone and CHANGE it so that it can t be returned Examples burning someone s wood lost clothes at the dry cleaner s o Nuisance if the activity of someone else bothers you at your house Examples loud noise animals rodents etc o Business Torts At Common Law Injurious Falsehood OR Trade Disparagement when you publish a falsehood about a business that hurts their image Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations 3rd party woos one of us to break out contract Example a work competitor wants you your work can sue their competitor Trade Secret Violations divulging trade secrets Statutory intellectual property IT stuff Intangible person property you can buy sell or lease it Unfair Competition o Clayton Act violation of Antitrust Laws Trademark Infringement and False Advertising o Trademark pending 5 years o Lanham Act of 1946 o Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988 Patent Infringement invention novel idea good for 20 years you lose exclusive rights after 20 years Copyright Infringement easier to get than a patent used on literary work book magazine movie etc o Good for life of the author 70 years o Life of a corporation until legally dissolved o Copyright Act of 1976 Negligence most commonly used o Four Elements must prove ALL of them Duty of Care relationship between defendant and plaintiff defendant owes plaintiff a duty of care Example driving by an injured person stopping duty of care Breach of Duty of Care defendant breached the duty of care Res Ipsa Loquitur Doctrine presumption that there is a breach of care Causation Responsible Man Standard what would the reasonable person do If entirely in control of defendant it is up to defendant to prove there is not a breach of care Actual cause in fact Example fender bender ambulance you are responsible for the injury but NOT for the death actual cause NOT proximate cause Proximate legal cause plaintiff s injury has to be the natural probable consequence of the defendant s unintentional action o Palsgraf v Long Island Railroad set idea of proximate cause fireworks train woman scale on head Injury Detriment or Damage must be experienced by plaintiff o Affirmative Defenses Contributory Negligence did the plaintiff s own negligence contribute to their own injury Last clear chance doctrine Comparative Negligence If defendant is 99 responsible then they will pay 99 of it AND the plaintiff will not receive 1 of it Assumption of the Risk Doctrine there was a risk involved you knew this when going into it Example going to a baseball game and getting hit in the head you would lose the trial because you assumed the risk o Degrees of Negligence Slight Negligence failure to exercise extreme care Ordinary Negligence failure to exercise ordinary care Gross Negligence so careless that it seemed they almost did it intentionally compensatory AND punitive damages o Duty of Care Owed by Landowner to Persons on his or her Property Classification of Persons on Property of Another Invitee you owe the highest duty of care you know when to expect them you have a duty to inspect your property their responsibility to tell you if they have allergies or any special needs Licensee you don t know when to expect them example Girl Scouts meter readers newspaper delivery person Trespasser you owe the lowest amount of care to them o Katko v Briney gun fired when the door opens at an abandoned farm house that belonged to Briney o Attractive Nuisance Doctrine an activity on your property that attracts young people to go on your property minors o State Recreational Use Statutes to promote the productive use of land Example you have a lake and let people use it if you don t charge people you aren t liable Doesn t apply to private parties Strict Liability o Ultrahazardous or Inherently Dangerous Activities easiest to prove has recently been applied to product liability Ultrahazardous only thing you have to prove Inherently Dangerous Activities only time when you can use strict liability Explosives fireworks dynamite wild animals etc o Doctrine of Respondeat Superior employees goes out and commits a tort you sue both the employer and employee Employee v Independent Contractor Status Employee test applied by courts Independent Contractor Status save on payroll and paperwork save on employment taxes way cheaper innocent victim can only sue independent contractor Test Applied by Courts employee if tort occurred 1 during the course of employment and 2 within the scope of employee s authority
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