Chapter 5 HW questions – Flashcards
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What is the basic purpose of tort law?
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To punish criminal wrongdoers
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Special Damages
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Intended to compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable monetary losses, such as medical expenses
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General Damages
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Intended to compensate individuals (but not companies) for the nonmenetary aspects of the harm suffered from a tort, such as pain and suffering
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Punitive Damages
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Awarded in tort cases to punish the wrongdoer and to deter others from similar wrongdoing
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Compensatory Damages
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Intended to compensate or reimburse a plaintiff for actual losses
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What are the two broad classifications of torts?
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(1) Intentional torts (example: Battery) (2) Unintentional torts (example: negligence in a slip and fall case)
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Stiles is much stronger than Ben and threatens to beat Ben, then punches him in the face, and knocks out a tooth. Ben will probably bring a lawsuit against Stiles
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For assault and battery because there was both a threat and harmful action
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Hank may be able to sue his neighbor Larson for ________ if Larson sends Hank a text message telling him that his wife was killed in a car accident even though Hank knew that it was untrue
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Infliction of emotional distress
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What are the main elements of fraudulent misrepresentation (in order)?
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1. A misrepresentation of material facts with knowledge of their falsity 2. An intent to cause another party to rely on the misrepresentation 3. Justifiable reliance on the misrepresentation 4. Damages suffered as a result of that reliance 5. A casual connection between the misrepresentation and the injury suffered.
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Competing via aggressive marketing and advertising strategies is _______________ interference with a business relationship
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Usually permissible
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Trespass to land requires that a person ________ on the land.
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Remains
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For trespass to land occur you have _______ onto, above, or below the land surface owned by another.
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Enter
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A real property owner must _____ that a person is a trespasser.
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Establish
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A guest in your home is typically ____ a trespasser.
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Not
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You are given permission to use Alvie's land for a one-day four-wheeled drive event. Your own truck breaks down during the event so you leave it on Alvie's property. Most likely you have committed?
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Trespass to land
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When you borrow a friend's tablet device and refuse to give it back, you have committed trespass to land?
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False - Trespass to land only involves real property, whereas trespass to personal property only involves moveable items. Intentional Torts Against Property.
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Which of the following acts normally do NOT constitutes a conversion (the wrongful taking, using, or retaining possession of personal property that belongs to another)?
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Temporarily borrowing a friend's textbook and then returning it.
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Disparagement of Property
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Occurs when economically injurious falsehoods are made about another's product or property
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Slander of Title
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Publishing false information about another's legal ownership of property that results in financial loss to the property's owner
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The difference between intentional torts and torts involving negligence is that, in torts involving negligence, the tortfeaser does NOT wish to bring about the consequence of the act, nor does she or he believe that they will occur?
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True
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What are the elements required to succeed in a negligence action in the order in which they are normally considered?
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1. Duty 2. Breach 3. Causation 4. Damages
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Cooktop, Inc., manufactures cooktops on which Juarez burns his fingers. Has Cooktop, Inc. unreasonably violated its standard duty of care?
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No, because stoves get hot and some people get burned when they are careless
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The reasonable person standard concerns itself with how a particular person would act and not with how an ordinarily prudent person should act?
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False - The reasonable person standard is supposedly objective because it does not necessarily involve how a particular person would act, but rather gives society's judgment of how an ordinarily prudent person should act. See Unintentional Torts (Negligence).
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Those who enter retail premises are called busines ______?
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Invitees
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Storeowners must warn business invitees of _____ risks?
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Foreseeable
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A landowner has a duty to discover and remove any ______ dangers to customers or other invitees?
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Hidden
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When risks are so ________, owners need not warn of them?
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Obvious
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An attorney's conduct is judged by the reasonable person standard?
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False - An attorney's conduct is judged not by the reasonable person standard, but by the reasonable attorney standard. See The Duty of Care and Its Breach (Negligence).
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Which of the following questions does a court NOT ask to determine whether the requirement of causation is met?
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Was there intent?
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You accidentally bump into someone on the sidewalk and that person falls, but is unharmed. Nonetheless, that person usually can successfully sue you for damages?
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False - Normally there can be no lawsuit for damages when no injury was suffered. Otherwise, the courts would be clogged with such lawsuits. See Unintentional Torts (Negligence).
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Assumption of risk does NOT require?
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Seeking out the riskiest activities
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An intervening event that acts as a superseding (overriding) cause may relieve the defendant of liability for injuries caused by the intervening event.
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True
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Comparative Negligence
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A theory in tort law under which the liability for injuries resulting from negligent acts is shared by all parties who were negligent (including the injured party), on the basis of each person's proportionate negligence
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Contributory Negligence
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A theory in tort law under in which a complaining party's own negligence contributed to or caused his or her injuries. No matter how insignificant the plaintiff's negligence was relative to the defendant's negligence, the plaintiff was precluded from recovering any damages.
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Negligence _____ may occur if an individual violates a statute or ordinance and thereby causes the kind of harm that the statute was intended to prevent.
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Negligence per se
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__________ statutes exist to protect, as an example, medical personnel who volunteer their services in emergency situations?
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Good Samaritan
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_______-shop acts imposes liability on bartenders who have served too much alcohol to those who are involved in accidents after leaving the bar?
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Dram-shop
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Under the doctrine of strict liability, liability for injury is imposed for reasons other than _____?
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Fault
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James carefully stores toxic waste in his factory. In spite of his care, the toxic waste leaks and harms Francis, his neighbor. James is not liable because the leak was not his fault.
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False
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Which of the following is needed to prove that there is defamation as is suggested by Shelly and Tony?
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All the choices are correct - (1) That Mrs. Vogel made a false statement of a fact (2) That Mrs. Vogel harmed the reputation of the car dealership. (3) That the statement was published to at least one person, other than those who worked at the car dealership.
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What is Mrs. Vogel's best defense against the tort of defamation?
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That her statements about the car dealership are true.
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When Mrs. Vogel's walks onto the car lot and her conduct and speech persuades an entering vehicle to back away from Rally's car lot, what is the most likely tort that she is committing?
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Trespass
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What duty is owed to Maria while she is in Kowalski's (before entering the stock room)?
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Since she is a business invitee, there is a duty to warn her about any dangers that the store knew of or should have known about.
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Once Maria enters the stock room, which of the following is Kowalski's best defense for Maria's injuries?
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That she assumed the risk of injury.
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Which one of the following is the best argument that Kowalski's Grocery is not liable for Maria's injury?
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Kowalski's posted the "Employee's Only No Admittance" sign, therefore Maria was trespassing in the stockroom.
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If Mark decides to put the TF-300 fans that his company manufactures on the market, and the fans are considered to be an unreasonable dangerous product, the party who was injured would not need to prove:
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the defendant must have acted with intent to cause harm
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If Mark's company enters into the contract to sell the TF-300 fans that they manufacture to Rooms-to-Go and a purchaser is injured by the fan, under strict liability, which would be liable for the injuries?
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Both Mark's company and Rooms-to-Go.
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If Mark's company enters into the contract to sell the TF-300 fans that they manufacture to Rooms-to-Go and a purchaser is injured by the fan, under strict liability, and a person who did not purchase the fan is injured by debris coming off of the fan while at a friend's house. Decide:
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Both Rooms-to-Go and Mark's company would be liable
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If the TF-300 fans that they manufacture are put onto the market, Mark's company may be liable for injuries if the fans are unreasonably dangerous and the problem with then fans stems from:
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All of these - (1) a design defect...(2) a failure to warn not to hit the reverse switch while the fan is moving...(3) a manufacturing defect
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If Mark decides to put the TF-300 fans that his company manufactures on the market, and the fans are considered to be an unreasonable dangerous product. Assume that Mark insisted on putting a label on the remote control stating "Do not put into reverse mode while the fan is spinning." If someone were then injured by the fan because they put the fan in reverse while it was spinning, which defense would Mark's company likely use?
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The company would likely use the assumption of risk defense.
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The state of Texas has placed caps on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice causes of action. This type of limitation on damages is
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an example of tort reform
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Mark is a famous syndicated radio personality for TalkRadio. He has a distinctive voice and manner of speaking. MoreTalk hires Gordon, who sounds nearly identical to Mark, to host a competing show. MoreTalk encourages Gordon to imitate Mark as closely as possible while on the air. MoreTalk is most likely to be liable for?
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Appropriation
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Adam sells audio and video equipment. He tells a customer, Abbey, "This MP3 player is the best one ever made." Adam's statement is:
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Puffery
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Ethan is larger and stronger than Nate. Ethan threatens to beat Nate, punches Nate in the face, and knocks out Nate's tooth. Nate may bring a lawsuit against Ethan?
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Assault and Battery
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Ted is running down the sidewalk at a high rate a speed and bumps into Robin, knocking her down. She jumps back up and continues on. In a negligence action, all of the following elements would be met except:
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Damages
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Austin, Texas has passed a local ordinance that provides all motor vehicles must provide at least three feet of clearance when passing a bicycle. Ted is driving his vehicle and accidentally hits Zoey. His actions of violating the local ordinance and hitting Zoey constitute?
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Negligence per se
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The members of the City High soccer team have been training with Hanson, a personal trainer who charges by the hour, for several years. Bob, the soccer coach, tells the team members that they must now train with Martin, not Hanson, or they will be kicked off the team. All of Hanson's clients immediately stop training with Hanson. Bob is most likely to have committed?
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Wrongful interference with a business relationship
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While Jessica, Ashley, and Bryan are snowboarding, they ignore warning signs indicating that they have left the marked trail and are entering dangerous territory. They become lost, and a rescue effort begins. Climbing the mountain, a snowplow accidentally cuts a nearby town's main electrical cable. Due to the loss of her electric heat, Ethel, an elderly woman, dies of hypothermia. The boarders' negligence in ignoring the warning signs is?
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The causation in fact, but not the proximate cause, of Ethel's death
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John becomes seriously ill while vacationing at a remote island resort. Dr. Smith is vacationing at the same resort. Because it is an emergency and no one else is available, the doctor treats John until he can be flown to the mainland. John's illness is outside of Dr. Smith's area of expertise, and the treatment he provides causes permanent damage to John. If John sues Dr. Smith, he can defend himself under?
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Good Samaritan statues
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Mel sent Jasper an e-mail message telling Jasper that his wife had been killed in a car accident, and Mel knew this was untrue. Jasper may be able to sue Mel for?
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Infliction of emotional distress
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Cory opens a small jewelry store but has difficulty competing with Bling Jewels, a much larger firm. In his newspaper ad, Cory includes the false statement, "Bling Jewels sells stolen diamonds." Bling experiences an immediate decrease in sales. Cory has most likely committed the tort of?
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Slander of title
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Orson takes Harrison's car without Harrison's permission and without just cause. Orson has probably committed the tort of conversion unless he can show that?
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Harrison does not really own the car
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Astor Manufacturing stores hazardous and volatile chemicals in its warehouse. The warehouse has state of the art equipment to make sure the chemicals do not explode. An unexpected earthquake shakes the warehouse, causing the chemicals to explode and injure William, a passer-by on a nearby sidewalk. Astor Manufacturing is?
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Strictly liable for William's injuries
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Stephanie stands in front of her home with a bullhorn shouting that her new neighbor, Kyle, has just been released from prison for child molestation. Stephanie knows this statement is false. Under what legal theory may Kyle recover damages from Stephanie?
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Slander per se
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Andy decides to go skydiving for his 40th birthday. He signs a waiver, boards the plane and prepares for the jump. Everything is going smoothly until just before landing a down draft forces Andy down at a much faster rate into the ground, causing injury to both of his legs. Andy will likely not be able to recover for his injuries under the defense of?
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Assumption of the risk
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Doug obtains permission to be on Nathan's land for one day to hold a four-wheeling event. Doug's truck breaks down, and instead of removing it, he leaves it on Nathan's property for several days after the event. Doug has most likely committed?
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Trespass to land
