B LAW 210 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Lectures 5 8 Lecture 5 September 10 Intentional Torts and Privacy Basis of Tort Law o Damages Available in Tort Actions Compensatory Reimburse plaintiff for actual losses Special Quantifiable losses such as medical expenses lost wages and benefits General Non monetary such as pain and suffering reputation Punitive Punish the wrongdoer Intentional Torts Against Persons Tortfeasor person committing the tort must intend to commit an act the consequences of which interfere with the personal or business interests of another in a way not permitted by law o Assault and Battery Battery An unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed Assault Any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact including words or acts that create in another person a reasonable apprehension of harmful contact Defenses to Assault and Battery Consent Self Defense Reasonable force Defense of Others reasonable force Defense of Property o False Imprisonment Intentional confinement or restraint of another person s activities without justification o Infliction of Emotional Distress An intentional act that is Extreme and outrageous that results in severe emotional distress in another o Defamation Wrongfully hurting a person s good reputation Law imposes duty to refrain from making false statements of fact about others Orally breaching this duty is slander breaching it in print or media or internet is libel Damages for Libel Damages are presumed Damages for Slander Plaintiff must prove special damages to establish the defendant s liability Defenses to Defamation Truth is generally an absolute defense o IF it s true it doesn t count as defamation Privileged or Immune Speech o Absolute Judicial Legislative proceedings o Qualified Employee Evaluations o Invasion of Privacy Every person has a fundamental right to solitude freedom from public scrutiny o Use of Person s name or likeness Intrusion on Individual s Affairs or Seclusion Publication of Information that Places a Person in False Light Public Disclosure of Private Facts Fraudulent Misrepresentation Elements Misrepresentation of material facts conditions knowing falsity Intent to induce another to rely on the misrepresented Justifiable Reliance by the deceived party Damages suffered as a result of reliance Causal Connection between the misrepresentation and the injury Lecture 6 September 12 Negligence Negligence 1 Duty of Care Owed by Tortfeasor a EX As a driver who do you owe a duty of care to b EX As a landlord who do you owe a duty of care to 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 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 3 Causation a In Fact Was it the cause IN FACT But for i If the water was cleaned up would the plaintiff still break their 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 4 Injury a If there is no injury there is no negligence Defenses of Negligence Comparative Negligence Assumption of Risk What duties do professionals have Negligence for professionals Malpractice o Would a reasonable professional make the same mistake 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 Lecture 7 September 17 Strict Liability and Intellectual Property Strict Liability Something that is imposed on people even if there was no intent from injury or harm Liability without fault Different from intentional tort and different from negligence Common Cases of Strict Liability Unusually dangerous situations Strip Mining Wild Animal Cases You get one free Law o Dog bites one person Owner liable if another is bitten and ONLY THEN Medical Cosmetic Cases Products causing injury with the knowledge of possibilities o Liable when A doctor puts a drug on the market KNOWING it causes stroke and does not label it Someone has a stroke company doctor is liable Intellectual Property The minute you take an idea and put it in physical form YOU NEED A COPYRIGHT o You cannot sue an idea UNLESS it is copyrighted Copyright is the best way to protect your ideas and creations o Protection lasts the same amount of years as the copyrighter plus 7 years Trademark Anything that identifies a product or company logos the name products Patents A set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time normally 20 years since the processing Lecture 8 September 19 Properties of Law Real Property o Land and anything that s permanently attached to the land Includes subsurface rights and air rights o If personal property is affixed with the property it becomes a fixture permanently affixed Transfer of real property has to be in writing to be legal house deed etc o Fee Simple owning 100 of the property Lease A document giving possession to someone else for a period of time License A document giving temporary possession of a property for a limited purpose o Transfer Selling money involved a property Gifting donative intent no money a property giving up 100 of rights o Life Estate Keeps possession of the property for the rest of their lives Personal Property o Movable property something you can pick up and take o Transfer of property is less formal than Real Property o Bailment Temporary right to use personal property lend Commercial Property o Trade fixture type of property that needs to be used for business you have the right to remove but you must pay for