B LAW 210 1st Edition Lecture 6 Outline of Last Lecture 1 Basis of Tort Law 2 Intentional Torts Against Persons 3 Business Torts 4 Intentional Torts Against Property Outline of Current Lecture I Negligence a Defenses of Negligence b Professional Duties c Res Ipsa Loquiter Current Lecture Negligence 1 Duty of Care Owed by Tortfeasor a EX As a driver who do you owe a duty of care to i Others on the road ii Passengers in the vehicle iii Pedestrians walking b EX As a landlord who do you owe a duty of care to Must not create unreasonable risk of harm i Residents in the building ii Employees working at the apartments 2 Breach of Duty Reasonable Person Standard a EX While walking through a grocery store you slip on water on the ground with cones surrounding it and fall and break your elbow i The grocery store is not liable because you missed ignored the warning b EX In line at the grocery store a toddler spills water on the ground in front of you and walking up to the check out you slip and fall i Because of time between the spill and your fall the store is not liable ii If it was two hours the store would be liable 3 Causation a In Fact Was it the cause IN FACT But for These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute i If the water was cleaned up would the plaintiff still break their arm Probably not Water Broken Arm b Proximate Cause Is the injury foreseeable reasonably i If a man loses his backpack full of fireworks while jumping on a train and a women gets injured 25 yds from the blast of the dropped backpack is the train company liable because of negligence No because the injury accident was NOT foreseeable 4 Injury a If there is no injury there is no negligence Defenses of Negligence Comparative Negligence Assumption of Risk o EX A woman was hit at a baseball game during the batting practice with a foul ball is the baseball park liable for Negligence No because she walked down to be closer and assumed the risk that came with getting closer to the batting practice What duties do professionals have Negligence for professionals Malpractice EX Doctor makes an error and seriously injures you during a surgery When you bring forth a case the judge jury will decide if a REASONABLE doctor would have acted in the same way If yes no case If no doctor is charged with MALPRACTICE Res Ipsa Loquiter Let it speak for itself EX After an emergency surgery to get your appendix out a few days later you notice your hips are swelling and upon returning to the hospital it s discovered that a scalpel has been left in your body and is infected Because you don t know WHO SPECIFICALLY left the scalpel it s hard to prove negligence but SOMEONE is obviously liable of negligence o EX Man is walking down a street near a barrel factory Suddenly a barrel falls and kills the man walking The estate sues but has a hard time proving WHO was responsible o The court decides that the barrel company is liable for negligence because barrels don t just fall out of windows on their own if they are properly secured and taken account of