Negligence

someones disregard to do something a reasonable person would do.

Elements of Negligence

Duty

Breach

Causation

Damages

Duty

General Rule for Duty

Circumstances for Duty

Mental Shortcomings - not taken into account

Physical Shortcomings - taken into account

Age - lower standard of care [exception: adult activity doctrine]

Superior Knowledge - raises standard of care

Emergencies - taken into account and lower standard of care

Duty of Owners/Occupiers of Land

Undiscovered Trespasser - limited/no duty to protect P

Discovered Trespasser - duty of reasonable care conducting  activities and duty to warn of known hidden conditions. No duty to search for hidden conditions or to repair.

Licensee -  duty of reasonable care conducting  activities and duty to warn of known hidden conditions. No duty to search for hiddenconditions or to repair.

Business Invitee - Full duty of care. 

Attractive Nuisance Doctrine

Breach

D failed to fulfill the required legal duty

1. D's actions (obj)

2. D's behavior (subj)

Failure to act by a Defendent...

Exceptions to failure to act by D

1. D caused P's predicament

2. Rescue Doctrine - once you begin to rescue someone you must continue unless termination won't worsen the P's position or others can rescue the P

3. Special Relationship - D is liable if they have a special relationship with P [ex: employer/employee] 

Causation

Types of Inuries

Personal - physical/bodily

Property - real estate/personal property

Economic - business/professional

Emotional - distress

would the P's injuries have occurred "but for" the D's breach of duty? 

Hypo: would construction have been delayed "but for" the flood?    NO

General Rule for Proximate Cuasation

Defenses to Negligence

1. Actual Damages
2. Caused Injury
3. In the Business of Selling Liable Product
4. Reached P without any substantial changes

5. Defective

6. Unreasonably Dangerous

Intent (Substantial Certainity)

Recklessness

Negligence

Strict Liability

Personal : Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Property : Trespass to Land, Trespass to Chattels (non real estate) and conversion

When one person causes another person to suffer a reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive bodily contact

- Intent (Substantial Certainity)

- Reasonable Apprehension (Fear or Range of Emotional Responses)

- Imminent (D has present ability to perform)

Intentional infliction of harmful or offensive bodily contact

- Intent (substantial certainity)

- Harmful (physical) or Offensive (personal dignity)

- Contact (phsyically or via extension)

1. Different Person is the object of intent

2. Different Tort is intended

Intentional infliction of a confinement

- Intent (substantial certainity)

- Confinement (means of boundaries, force used, reasonable means of escape)

Shopkeepers detention will not constitute false imprisonment if:

1. Reasonable Suspician

2. Reasonable Means

3. Reasonable Time

Intentional infliction, by extreme and outrageous conduct of severe emotional distress.

- Intent (substantial certainity)

- Extreme and Outrageous Conduct (would reasonable person judge conduct extreme or outrageous)

- Severe Emotional Distress (evidence of distress or compacted in unreasonable time)

When D intentionally causes physical invasion of land possessed by another

- Intent (substantial certainity)

- Phsyical Invasion

- Land Possessed by Another

Intentional interference with a person's use or posession of a personal property

- Intent (substantial certainity)

- Interference with Use or Posession

- Personal Property (Non Real Estate)

1. Did privilege exist?

- necessary

- immenence of danger

2. Scope of Force

- Deadly force only when in fear of physical injury or life is in danger

D must retreat if safe to do so before using deadly force

- doesnt apply in your own residence

Majority Rule - D is privileged to use reasonable force to defend a 3rd party when the 3rd party reasonably appears to be privileged to defend themselves.

Minority Rule - D is privileged to defend 3rd parties only if the 3rd party is IN FACT actually privileged to defend themself. 

1. Privilege exists

-reasonable belief immenence of danger

2. Scope of Force

-necessary enough to protect property

verbal warning is required before using deadly force to defend property.

- not required when unsafe

1. Privilege

- wrongful taking

- prompt discovery of wrongful taking

- fresh pursuit to recover

2. Scope of Force

- Reasonable force : only what is needed to recover the stolen property

- NEVER DEADLY FORCE

publication

falsity

defamatory

statement

concerning the plaintiff

required degree of fault

damages 

Libel - defamatory statement in some permanent form 

*higher damages

Slander - a defamatory statement in some temporary form

Public Official is appointed or elected, Public Figure chose to be part of the public eye and Private Figure chooses to be Private. 

Public Official/Figure - Actual Malice Standard and Reckless Disregard

Private Figure - Negligence Standard

1. Intrusion upon a person's solitude 

2. Public disclosure of private facts about a person

3. Publicity placing a person in a false light to the public

4. Misappropriation of name/likeness for commercial purposes [Right of Publicity]

- Intrusion upon zone of privacy

- Highly Offensive to a reasonable person

- Highly offensive

- Not a matter of legitimate concern to the public

- No liability attaches to publicity concerning matters of public record or interest.

- Public Officials/Figures have no right of privacy concerning information that is reasonably related to their public lives

use of name/image/info for commercial purposes to imply some non-existent connection or to imply product endorsement

Exception: transforming name/image/infor and Freedom of the Press "Hot News"

*Negligence - Duty

Care accident because of texting

D holds no duty of care because the relationship and foregoing public policy considerations substantially outweigh any forseability of the harm at issue.

*Business Invitee

Sprained ankle in home

 duty doesnt replicate comprehensive duty owed by homeowners towards invitees

*Business Invitee

Beaten outside of bar

D owes duty of reasonable care to P to protect them from danger 

*Business Invitee

Gas Station

maintenance was unreasonable and must owe duty of reasonable care to known hazards.

*Special Relationship

Druk Driving

3rd parties can be liable for injuries that occur in the ordinary course of events from their negligence if negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about the injuries

*Violation of Statute and Negligence Per Se

Fire and business

trial erred

*Proximate Causation

flat tire murder

neither ford nor firestone had a legal duty to anticipate and guard against criminal acts at the location of another party. 

*Proximate Causation

Shot by intruder at work

erred

*Proximate Causation

Drunk and buying liqour

standard of care, a breach of which is negligence as a matter of law. 

*Strict Liability

Misfire of fireworks

satisfies six conditions, therefore abnormally dangerous activity justifying the imposition of strict liability

*Misappropriation of name/likeness for commercial purposes

catchphrase

because of their awareness of the familiarity with the catchphrase then they have invaded the P's privacy and violated their publicity rights.

*Public Figure and Actual Malice

False Article

Protection of publications engaged in the immediate dissemination of news and arent generally in a position to guard adequately against the publication of material which is untrue. 

*Concerning the Plaintiff

Article on Hell's Angels

Far too numerous to show "of and concerning"

*Intrusion, Public Disclosure and False Light

Naked Photos

Right to privacy under intrusion and public disclosure; false light declined

*Disclosure of Private Facts

Basketball Players and Grades

They are Public Figures, therefore article does not invade privacy

*Misappropriation of name/likeness

Three Stooges

May not use publicity of deceased celebrities without consent of successors

*Battery - Harmful/Offensive

Baseball player and hecklers

Employer is liable for damages resulting from an assualt by an employee when the assault was in response to a bystanders interference of the employees duties. 

*Battery - Contact

Upset Manager

Battery involves the act of a person or extension of their actions

*Battery - Harmful/Offensive

Paralegal

Bodily contact was not offensive to a reasonable person

*Shopkeepers Privilege

Stolen Items

There must be restraint by force/fear

*False Imprisonment - Confinement

Cult and Parents

a parents/agents actions to revert their adult child is justifiable

*Shopkeepers Privilege

Scam and Reciepts

When merchant has reasonable cause to believe that goods held for sale have been unlawfully take by a person, the means of detaining the suspect are reasonable along with the time period of detention.

*Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Severe

Skipping class

the acts were willful nor malicious or performed in such a way to indicate a gross neglect/disregard for rights of wronged. 

*Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Conduct

Church and Yelling

Outburst does not give rise for any recovery of intentional infliction of emotional distress

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - Distress

Football and Medical Issues

mental distress was unreasonable

*Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress - conduct

Mail Carrier and Suicide

Outrageous conduct existed

*Defense of Property - Scope of Force

Trespassing unoccupied farmhouse

not permissible to use a spring gun to protect uninhabited property.