Chapter 3
Tort Law
The Nature of Tort Law
Based on the idea that…….
Everyone has certain rights.
Everyone has the duty to respect the rights of others.
Tort law enforces these rights.
What is a Tort
Tort: is a private wrong committed by one
person against another.
TortFeasor: is a person who commits a
tort.
Interferes with a person’s rights.
Three Elements to a Tort
1. The possession of certain rights by an
individual.
2. A violation of those rights by a
TortFeasor.
3. A resulting injury that somehow hurts the
person whose rights were violated.
Criminal Law vs Tort Law
1. Crime: wrong committed against public
good
2. Tort (Civil) Law: wrong committed
against a particular person or property.
 An act can be both Criminal and Civil.
3. Penalties (Criminal Law): Purpose is to
protect society, fines and imprisonment.
4. Remedies (Civil Law): compensate victim
for injuries caused by the TortFeasor.
Damages and Remedies
Damages: Monetary sum paid to the
plaintiff for injuries, pain and suffering,
etc.
Remedy: A legal means of enforcing a right
or correcting a wrong.
Intentional Torts Against
Persons
Intentional Torts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Assault and Battery
False Imprisonment
Defamation
Invasion of Privacy
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Assault and Battery
Two separate Torts
Assault
Battery
False Imprisonment
 People have the right to move around
freely.
 If someone interferes with this right, they
have committed false imprisonment.
Invasion of Privacy
 Person’s right to be left alone. Right to be free of
unwanted publicity, people must stay put of your
private matters.
 People who use confidential records in their jobs
(doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers and counselors)
have to be extremely careful with those records.
 Someone cannot use your photograph, likeness or
name without your permission for advertising,
publicity or marketing purposes.
Defamation
 Occurs when somebody lies about another
person in a way that hurts the innocent
person’s reputation.
 There are two types:
 Libel
 Slander
Defamation Continued
Movie Stars, famous athletes, and politicians
must prove that lies told about them are told
with actual malice (Supreme Court Ruling).
Which means that the person who published
the lie knew it was a lie and published it
anyway, or the person who published the lie
did not do an adequate job of checking the
facts.
Intentional Infliction of
Emotional Distress
Someone can cause great emotional or
mental distress to another person, even if
there is no intent to cause physical harm
The distress must be caused by extreme
and outrageous conduct.
Intentional Torts Against
Property
1.
2.
3.
4.
Trespass
Conversion
Nuisance
Disparagement
Trespass
Interfering with somebody’s real property.
Conversion
Interfering with someone’s right to personal
property.
Disparagement
Lies about objects. The lies can be about
quantity or ownership.
Negligence
Is a tort that results when one person
carelessly injures another.
Negligence is being less careful than a
reasonable should be in the same situation.
Accidental Tort, most common Tort.
No actual intent by the TortFeasor.
Elements of Negligence
The plaintiff must prove all the following
elements:
1. The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of
care.
2. The defendant breached that duty by being
careless.
3. The defendant’s carelessness was the
proximate cause of harm.
4. The plaintiff was really hurt by the
defendants carelessness.
Duty of Care
Is the obligation to use a reasonable standard
of care to prevent injuries to others.
Breach of Duty
You breach or break, your duty to another
person when you fail to use reasonable
care in dealing with that person.
To determine whether the conduct is
negligent, the law has developed a
standard called the reasonable person test.
You have to be as careful as a reasonable
person would be, a reasonable person considers
how likely a certain act is to cause harm, how
serious the harm would be, and the burden
involved in avoiding the harm.
Proximate Cause
 It is not enough to show that the defendants
actions were unreasonable, the action or behavior
must also be the proximate cause of the injury.
 Proximate Cause: or legal cause, exists when the
link between the negligent conduct and the injury
is strong enough to be recognized by the law.
 Use the Foreseeability Test
 The court asks whether the injury to the victim was
foreseeable at the time of the negligent conduct. If the
injury to the victim was foreseeable, then proximate
cause exists, and the defendant is liable for negligence.
 Actual Harm – VICTIM MUST HAVE SUFFERED AN
INJURY!
Defenses to Negligence
There are four defenses to Negligence
1.
2.
3.
4.
Eliminate one of the four elements.
Contributory Negligence
Comparative Negligence
Assumption of Risk
Contributory Negligence
A defense against negligence when the
defendant can show the victim did something
to cause his or her own injuries.
 If the plaintiff can prove this then the
defendant loses.
 Originated in Common Law.
 Many states no longer use this.
Comparative Negligence
A defense against negligence which is
raised when the carelessness of each party
is compared to the carelessness of the
other party.
50% Rule (most states use this) the plaintiff is
allowed to receive some damages if the
plaintiff’s negligence is less than the
defendant’s. If the plaintiff’s negligence is
more than half the plaintiff gets nothing.
Assumption of Risk
A defense against the negligence that is
raised when the plaintiff knew of the risk
involved and still took the chance of being
injured.
Strict Liability
Is a legal doctrine that says that some
activates are so dangerous that liability will
always follow any injury that results from
those activates.
Product Liability
When people are injured by defective products,
both the manufacturer and the seller of the
product(s) are liable for injuries.
Fault does not matter
Limits to Product Liability
Does not apply if the seller of the
defective product does not usually sell
such items.
Does not apply if the only damage done by
the product is damage to the product
itself.
Tort Reform
Survival Statutes: A lawsuit can continue
even if both the plaintiff and Defendant
are deceased. Previously under common
law, Dead = end to the lawsuit.
Wrongful Death Status: relatives can bring
a lawsuit even if the victim has dies.