TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
Professor Vern R. Walker
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The law of Torts concerns the principles governing redress of injuries resulting from intentional
and unintentional wrongs against persons or their property. Particular attention is given to the
relative functions of judge and jury in determining liability and damages and to the interplay
between standards of liability and problems of proofs. The course also examines affirmative
defenses based upon the conduct of the plaintiff, with particular regard to situations in which the
plaintiff might have consented to the alleged wrong. Modern trends in the allocation of liability
will be discussed with emphasis on insurability and possible alternative systems of
compensation.
In addition, in this section of the course we will emphasize the logic and linguistic skills needed
to find in judicial decisions the critical logical elements (such as legal rules, legal policies,
findings of fact, policy-based reasoning, and holdings), to extract those elements from the
English text, and to use those elements in creating arguments in new cases.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students should:
• Have demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the basic rules of law and policies involved
in the law of Torts;
• Understand the role and differing characteristics of the common law, in contrast to
statutory or regulatory law;
• Understand the process through which common law is made and changed;
• Understand the role of state courts in creating and evolving Tort law, as contrasted with
the federal courts;
• Have demonstrated proficiency in extracting rules and policies from cases, and in
analyzing, interpreting and arguing differing interpretations of common law rules;
• Have demonstrated proficiency in identifying legal issues in facts and applying rules and
policies to facts; and
• Understand the basic procedural motions used in Torts cases.
CLASS TIME AND LOCATION
Wednesdays and Fridays, 10:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; Koppelman Hall
CONTACT INFORMATION
Office: Room 106, in southwest corner of the library
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
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Email: Vern.R.Walker@Hofstra.edu
Telephone (but email is preferred): (516) 463-5165
Regular office hours: Wednesdays, 2:00-3:00 p.m.; Fridays, 12:10-1:00 p.m.; and
other days and times by appointment.
In order to avoid conflicts, even for meetings during office hours, please make
appointments with my executive secretary:
Executive Secretary: Joyce A. Cox, Room 216C
Email: Joyce.A.Cox@Hofstra.edu
Telephone (but email is preferred): (516) 463-6339
ACADEMIC ADVISING
Please remember that I am one of your academic advisors. You should feel free to make an
appointment with me (through Joyce Cox) to discuss any school-related matter that is on your
mind. If I do not know the answer to a question you have, I can find out who does. Together, I’m
sure that we can find solutions to any problem that might arise, provided you come to discuss it
with me in enough time for us to find a solution.
GRADING AND ATTENDANCE POLICY
Your grade is based on your performance on the final examination, although your course grade
may be lower than that exam grade for lack of regular attendance at class or for lack of
satisfactory participation in class. You must notify me about and explain all absences from
class, using email. Missing more than four classes, even if explained, may result in a lowering of
your grade.
In addition, the law school, the New York State Court of Appeals and the American Bar
Association require law students to be in good and regular attendance during the academic year
for the courses in which they are registered. To comply with these rules, you must attend at least
85% of the regularly scheduled classes in this course. Thus, you may miss no more than 9 classhours in this 4-credit course.
I will provide sign-in sheets for each regularly scheduled class, which shall be the dispositive
evidence regarding your absence from a given class. Each student is responsible for signing in.
Falsification of sign-in sheets is a violation of the Code of Academic Conduct.
If you exceed the permitted absences by failing to sign in, you may be administratively
withdrawn from the course. No prior notice may be given, and you will receive notification from
the Office of Academic Records indicating the withdrawal. Any such withdrawal may have
serious ramifications for your financial aid, academic standing, and date of graduation. If you
are excessively absent from several classes, you may face additional sanctions, including but not
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
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limited to denial of certification of good and regular attendance to the New York State Board of
Law Examiners, or other state bar examiners.
If you believe you must be absent from class for more than the permitted number of hours, you
should contact the Office of Student Affairs as soon as possible. Accommodations may be made
for students who must be absent for religious reasons and in cases of truly compelling hardship.
Any request for an exception must be accompanied with appropriate documentation.
LAPTOPS IN THE CLASSROOM
Several studies have suggested that, for a variety of reasons, laptops in the classroom undermine
the educational experience, rather than enhance it. For this reason, a growing number of
professors, at Hofstra and elsewhere, have banned the use of laptops in the classroom.
Although I do not ban laptops in my classrooms, I strongly discourage their use in first-year
courses. Although different students learn in different ways, if you are like most students, you
will follow class discussion better, remember the material better, and get more out of each class,
if you do not bring a laptop to class.
To help encourage you to attend class without your laptop, I use PowerPoint slides to organize
our discussion, and I will make these slides available to you soon after the classes in which they
are used.
Lastly, since laptops can distract even those students who are not using them, I ask that those
students who do bring their laptops to class would sit in the last row of the classroom. I do
this not to penalize any students in any way, but rather to protect those students who do not use
laptops from the distractions posed by having computer screens within their field of view.
MID-TERM EXAM: I will give you a mid-term examination around the middle of the
semester, on which I will give you feedback. Although this mid-term exam is strictly for
practice, and will not count toward your final course grade, I urge you to prepare for it and take it
as seriously as if it did. The mid-term exam can be a valuable opportunity for you to determine
the adequacy of your note taking, exam preparation, and exam performance.
NOTICE: In order to ensure equal access and knowledge for all students, and to reduce anxiety
during the exam period, I will answer absolutely no questions about tort law (or the course or the
exam) after the last class has concluded, regardless of how the question is posed to me (e.g.,
orally or by email). Make sure you have asked me all of your questions prior to the last class.
TWEN
I will administer this course through “TWEN” (The West Education Network), “an online
extension of the law school classroom.” Important course materials and announcements will be
made available / communicated via TWEN. Please sign up for TWEN as soon as possible. This
course can be accessed as “Torts, Section B.” If you have TWEN-related questions, please ask
one of our librarians at the reference desk for assistance.
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
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COURSE OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments are page numbers to the required text, Dan B. Dobbs, Paul T. Hayden, & Ellen
M. Bublick, TORTS AND COMPENSATION: PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR INJURY (West: Concise 7th Ed., 2013). NOTE: This is the Concise edition.
A second required text is THE AMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE, A CONCISE RESTATEMENT OF TORTS
(Third Edition, 2013) (compiled by Ellen M. Bublick).
A good reference on basic motions practice is Fleming James, Jr. Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., &
John Leubsdorf, CIVIL PROCEDURE (5th ed. 2001), on reserve behind the main circulation desk of
the library.
Pages assigned below as “INFO ONLY” are not required reading for the examination.
Date
Assignments [Related Restatement Sections in Brackets, as edited in the
Concise Restatement Edition]
21 Aug
Introduction; Battery
26 Aug
28 Aug
Intentional Torts: Battery
35-46 [3rd §§1, 2, 5; 2nd §§ 13, 16, 18, 19]
Additional Intentional Causes of Action
46-61 [2nd §§ 21, 22, 30, 31, 35, 36,
39, 40, 41, 158, 163, 164, 217, 218, 222A, 229; 3rd § 33]
2 Sep
Defenses to Intentional Causes of Action
63-88 [2nd §§ 63, 65, 76, 77, 84, 85,
892, 168, 169, 170, 172, 196, 197]
Negligence Cause of Action: Prima Facie Case:
(1) Factual Element: Duty of Care
89-107 [3rd §§ 3, 4, 6, 7, 8-11]
4 Sep
1-34
9 Sep
11 Sep
108-120 [3rd §§ 14-16]
(2) Factual Element: Defendant’s Negligent Conduct
16 Sep
18 Sep
137-146
146-162 [3rd §§ 12-13]
25 Sep
Res Ipsa Loquitur
30 Sep
2 Oct
Vicarious Liability
519-540 [3rd Agency, §§ 7.03, 7.05, 2.04; 3rd §§ 55-65]
Newing v. Cheatham, 15 Cal.3d 351 (1975)
7 Oct
9 Oct
(3) Factual Element: Compensable Injury
177-179
(4) Factual Element: Cause in Fact
179-191 [3rd §§ 26-28, 36]
191-194, Summers v. Tice, 33 Cal.2d 80 (1948)
14 Oct
194-202
121-137 [3rd §§ 18-19]
162-175 [3rd § 17]
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
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16 Oct
(5) Factual Element: “Proximate” Nature of the Causal Link
29-32, 34-36]
21 Oct
23 Oct
230-239
Affirmative Defenses to a Negligence Cause of Action
Apportionment §§ 1-4, 7-8, 10-15, 23, 26]
28 Oct
30 Oct
269-282
Land Possessors
297-328 [3rd §§ 49-54]
INFO ONLY: Statutes of Limitation, Federal Preemption
4 Nov
6 Nov
11 Nov
13 Nov
203-230 [3rd §§
241-268 [3rd
283-295
INFO ONLY: Immunities
359-395
INFO ONLY: Contract and Duty
415-422
Medical and Other Professionals
329-342
Medical and Other Professionals, cont.
342-357
Nonfeasance
399-414, 422-433, 459-464 [3rd §§ 7, 19]
Duty to Protect
435-458 [3rd §§ 37-44]
18 Nov
20 Nov
Emotional Harm
465-494 [3rd §§ 4, 45, 46, 47-48]
Prenatal Harms, Death
495-515
INFO ONLY: Development of Strict Liability
541-561 [3rd § 20]
25 Nov
Products Liability
2 Dec
Products Liability
589-610
Market-Share Liability
632-639
563-589 [3rd Products Liability §§ 1-2, 9-10, 17-19]
ASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO LITIGATION TEAMS
Case Name (Page in Text); Plaintiff Team; Defendant Team
Garratt v. Dailey (35)
White v. Muniz (39)
A
B
C
Cullison v. Medley (46)
D
E
F
McCann v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (51)
B
A
Katko v. Briney (67), Brown v. Martinez (69)
D
Touchet v. Hampton (63)
C
B
Gortarez v. Smitty’s Super Valu, Inc. (70)
Surocco v. Geary (82)
F
E
E
C
D
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
Vincent v. Lake Erie Transportation Co. (85)
Stewart v. Motts (93)
E
D
Posas v. Horton (96)
A
F
Creasy v. Rusk (100)
B
C
Robinson v. Lindsay (105)
D
Chaffin v. Brame (108)
B
E
F
A
O’Guin v. Bingham County (112)
E
B
Impson v. Structural Metals, Inc. (117)
Pipher v. Parsell (123)
C
C
A
D
F
Indiana Consolidated Insurance Co. v. Mathew (127)
Stinnett v. Buchele (130)
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D
B
A
Bernier v. Boston Edison Co. (133)
F
C
Santiago v. First Student, Inc. (147)
A
E
Thoma v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (153)
Warren v. Jeffries (169)
C
E
A
Hale v. Ostrow (180)
F
B
Salinetro v. Nystrom (181)
D
C
Mohr v Grantham (194)
B
D
Thompson v. Kaczinski (204)
F
A
Hughes v. Lord Advocate (218)
B
Marcus v. Staubs (223)
F
A
D
C
E
Derdiarian v. Felix Contracting Corp. (230)
A
C
Ventricelli v. Kinney System Rent A Car, Inc. (233)
B
Marshall v. Nugent (235)
Pohl v. County of Furnas (246)
E
D
F
A
E
Christensen v. Royal School Dist. No. 160 (260)
Moore v. Hartley Motors (271)
F
C
E
Delaney v. Reynolds (228)
B
D
Right v. Breen (177)
Summers v. Tice (191)
E
D
C
A
B
Avila v. Citrus Community College District (279)
F
E
TORTS, SECTION B: SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2015
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Gladon v. Greater Cleveland Regional Trans. Auth. (301)
Bennett v. Stanley (307)
C
Minnich v. Med-Waste, Inc. (318)
D
F
Vergara v. Doan (334)
E
A
E
Harnish v. Children’s Hospital Medical Center (342)
Estate of Cilley v. Lane (400)
A
B
A
Farwell v. Keaton (408)
C
D
Podias v. Mairs (410)
D
C
Iseberg v. Gross (435)
F
E
E
Posecai v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (439)
C
B
Ward v. Inishmaan Assocs. Ltd. Partnership (446)
D
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of California (453)
E
Brigance v. Velvet Dove Restaurant, Inc. (459)
A
Catron v. Lewis (477)
D
E
Shull v. Reid (501)
D
C
F
F
A
B
F
Lee v. Crookston Coca-Cola Bottling Co. (570)
Knitz v. Minster Machine Co. (577)
D
B
Liriano v. Hobart Corp. (589)
A
B
E
A
Honda of America Mfg., Inc. v. Norman (582)
Bowling v. Heil Co. (599)
D
E
Remy v. MacDonald (495)
Weigel v. Lee (508)
C
C
Potter v. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. (491)
A
F
B
Wakulich v. Mraz (406)
B
B
C
B
Homer v. Long (472)
D
F
Kentucky River Medical Center v. McIntosh (312)
Walski v. Tiesenga (329)
A
F
E
F
Doomes v. Best Transit Corp. (606)
D
B
Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly and Co. (632)
C
D
C