Torts Jeopardy
Definitions
Duty
Standard of
Care
Privileges/
Defenses
Hypos or
Potpourri
100
100
100
100
100
200
200
200
200
200
300
300
300
300
300
400
400
400
400
400
500
500
500
500
500
Final Jeopardy
FINAL JEOPARDY
• ANSWER: But for the negligent conduct
of D, the ensuing injury would not have
happened, more likely than not or was
defendants’ negligence a substantial
factor in Plaintiff’s injury?
• QUESTION: What are theories of
Proximate Cause in Fact?
Answer
Question
Definitions-100
• ANSWER: False Imprisonment.
• QUESTION: What is Defendant
intentionally, by acts or threats, causes
Plaintiff to be confined for a significant
period of time (to P’s knowledge or harm) to
boundaries, tangible or intangible,
established by defendant without a
reasonable means of escape and without
privilege?
Answer
Question
Definitions-200
• ANSWER: Battery
• QUESTION: Intentionally causing,
directly or indirectly, harmful or
offensive contact with P’s person or
logical extension of P’s Person without
consent or privilege.
Answer
Question
Definitions-300
• ANSWER: Assault.
• QUESTION: What is Defendant, by an overt
act directed at Plaintiff, intentionally causes
Plaintiff to reasonably believe he/she will
immediately suffer an offensive or harmful
contact, where the Defendant has the
apparent present ability to carry out the
batter without consent or privilege?
Answer
Question
Definitions-400
• ANSWER: Intent.
• QUESTION: What is Voluntarily acting
for the purpose of causing X or
voluntarily acting with knowledge to a
substantial certainty that X will occur.
Answer
Question
Definitions-500
• ANSWER: Objective standard used
where person’s conduct is measured
against what a person with minimum
amount of knowledge would do.
• QUESTION: What is the
reasonable/prudent person test?
Answer
Question
Duty-100
• ANSWER: Foreseeability of harm,
seriousness of harm possible, and burden
on defendant to prevent determine this.
• QUESTION: What is the reasonable risk
of harm?
Answer
Question
Duty-200
• ANSWER: The (narrow view) of duty to
conform to a standard of care of the
Plaintiff was promoted by this judge and
the opposite view where duty is viewed as
duty to the public was promoted by this
judge.
• QUESTION: What is Cardozo’s view of
duty vs. Andrews’ view?
Answer
Question
Duty-300
• ANSWER: Duty owed towards children
requires this variation of the normal duty to
use reasonable care.
• QUESTION: What is liability for harm caused
by an artificial condition on land if the place is
likely to have child trespassers, involves
unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily
harm, children cannot appreciate the harm or
cannot discover the harm, and burden of
reducing or eliminating is low.
Answer
Question
Duty-400
• ANSWER: Duty to these requires person
to warn of latent defects that plaintiff
would not be able to discover.
• QUESTION: What are Licensees?
Answer
Question
Duty-500
• ANSWER: Duty to these requires person
to seek and warn of dangers where as
these only require warning once person is
identified.
• QUESTION: What are Invitees and
Trespassers?
Answer
Question
Standard of Care-100
• ANSWER: Handicaps have this effect on
the reasonable standard of care.
• QUESTION: What is handicapped
persons must take precautions, be they
more or less, which a reasonable person
with the same handicap would take?
Answer
Question
Standard of Care-200
• ANSWER: Children are held to this
standard of care.
• QUESTION: What is a subjective
standard—reasonable child of same age,
intelligence, maturity, training as
defendant in the same circumstances
except where activities are considered
inherently dangerous?
Answer
Question
Standard of Care-300
Answer
Question
Standard of Care-400
• ANSWER: Insanity has this effect on the
standard of care.
• QUESTION: Most courts find NO
EFFECT. Few courts have allowed for
sudden, unexpected bouts of insanity.
Why? Policy reasons—easy to fake,
plaintiffs are still damaged
Answer
Question
Standard of Care-500
• ANSWER: Standard that requires one to
possess and use the degree of skill and
learning of the reasonable or ordinary
practitioner in the same school/field in
the community in which he practices.
• QUESTION: What is the Professional
Standard of Care?
Answer
Question
Privileges/Defenses-100
• ANSWER: Express or implied.
• QUESTION: What is consent?
Answer
Question
Privileges/Defenses-200
• ANSWER: Must be reasonable force in
retaliation of a real threat of similar force
to self or others
• QUESTION: What is self defense or
defense of others?
Answer
Question
Privileges/Defenses-300
• ANSWER: Information of material fact
adequately given, which if failed to
receive such information, plaintiff would
have decided differently.
• QUESTION: What is Informed Consent
Doctrine?
Answer
Question
Privileges/Defenses-400
• ANSWER: If Defendant raises fact that he
abided by a statute and therefore is not liable,
what must be considered about the statute?
• QUESTION: What is 1) Was it a safety statute,
2) Was P an intended person to be protected by
the statute, 3) was the harm suffered of a type
which the statute intended to protect plaintiffs
from?, 4) Is this a negligence per se,
presumption of negligence, or evidence of
negligence jurisdiction?
Answer
Question
Privileges/Defenses-500
• ANSWER: Statute barring claims after a
certain period of time, such as two years.
• QUESTION: What is the Statute of
Limitations?
Answer
Question
Hypos & Potpourri-100
• ANSWER: Defendant throws a stick at a boy
on the roof of his shed. The Stick struck
another person (Plaintiff) and blinds him. Is
Defendant liable and why?
• QUESTION: What is yes he is liable on the
basis of transferred intent unless defendant
successfully argues he was defending his
property and did not use unreasonable force?
Answer
Question
Hypos & Potpourri-200
• ANSWER: Mother and 5 year old son, Billy
Bob, are walking across Wacker Drive on a
green light to go visit the Sears Tower Skydeck
when a cabbie fails to stop in time and hits Billy
Bob killing him. Billy Bob was running ahead
and about 6 feet in front of Mom. Can Mom
sue for Mental Distress?
• QUESTION: What is maybe under Zone of
danger theory (was she in fear of herself too)
and yes under Bystander witness and the
Present at scene theory?
Answer
Question
Hypos & Potpourri-300
• ANSWER: A bitter Torts student sets Brill’s house on
fire when he is not home. The fire dept arrives, rushes
into the home, and the Fireman Bob steps on a loose
floorboard that Brill didn’t know about, falls through
the floor, and breaks both his legs. Can Fireman Bob
successfully sue Brill?
• QUESTION: What is no because the fireman is
considered a bare licensee requiring only Brill to warn
of known latent defects that the Plaintiff would not be
able to discover? Brill did not have to seek out and
warn of dangers
Answer
Question
Hypos & Potpourri-400
• ANSWER: Doctor Devin M.D. performs an
appendectomy on Mr. Patient. After the
surgery he fails to give antibiotics and sends the
patient home. Patient dies two days later. What
will you consider in your analysis of Mr.
Patient’s claim against Dr. Devin?
• QUESTION: What is 1) duty, 2) professional
standard of care—is the standard within the
profession to give antibiotics? School/Practice,
skills? Community?
Answer
Question
Hypos & Potpourri-500
• ANSWER: Hotel pool uses drain cap A in all its pool
throughout the chain. Industry custom and practice is to use
drain cap A. However, drain cap A has been proven to be
unsafe, causing swimmers to get suctioned to the drain and,
therefore, drowning. News reports have surfaced
throughout the country. Drain cap B has been on the market
for 2 years and has been shown to be a safer alternative
though it costs twice as much. What effect will this have on
the Hotel’s liability?
• QUESTION: What is the effect of custom might be strong
evidence but in the end must pass the reasonable prudent
person test and considering the higher standard to invitees?
Answer
Question