Street Law: The case of…
Table 1: The Lung Cancer Death
 Table 2: The Spilled Peanut Butter
 Table 3: The Steering Wheel Failure
 Table 4: The Airline Explosion
 Table 5: The Expensive Insurance Premium
 Table 6: The Nonstop Car
 Everyone Completes: The School Slip and Fall
Be ready to discuss your case with the class.

Torts:
A Civil Wrong
Ms. Weigl
What is a tort?
 When
law.
a person commits a wrong in civil
Quick Review
 Plaintiff
 Judgment
 Defendant
 damages
Strict liability
Applies when a defendant is engaged in an
activity so dangerous that there is a serious
risk of harm even if he or she acts with the
utmost care.
1. Owners of dangerous animals
2. People who engage in highly dangerous
activities
3. Manufacturers and sellers of defective
consumer products
Liability
 Tort
law deals with these basic questions
(1) who should be liable or responsible for
harm caused by human activities
(2) how much should the responsible
person have to pay
Important Terms
remedy
something to make up for the harm done
 liability
legal responsibility for harm
 settlement
agreement reached by both parties
 common law
law made by judges through court decisions,
generally in state appellate courts: basis of tort
law

Important Terms
 intentional
wrong
An action done with the intent of injuring a
person, his or her property, or both.
 negligence
Most common tort.
Occurs when a person’s failure to use
reasonable care causes harm.
Important Terms
 Civil
law
Deals with disputes between individuals or
groups of individuals
 Standard of Proof
The level of certainty and the degree of
evidence necessary to establish proof in a
civil or criminal proceeding
Important Terms
 Preponderance
of the evidence
Usually a standard of proof used in a civil
suit; the burden of proof that a party must
meet in order to win the lawsuit
 Deep pockets
A description of the person or organization,
among many possible defendants, best
able to pay damages and therefore most
likely to be sued in a tort case
Important Terms
 Minor
A child; a person under the legal age of
adulthood; usually 18 or 21.
 Waive
To give up some right, privilege, or benefit
voluntarily
 Immune
Exempt from penalties, payments, or legal
requirements; free from prosecution
Important Terms
 Class
action
A lawsuit brought by one or more persons
on behalf of a larger group
 Contingency
fee
The fee paid to an attorney based on the
percentage of the sum the client is
awarded or settles for in a lawsuit
Important Term
 Liability
insurance
The type of coverage or insurance that
pays for injuries to the other people or
damage to property if the individual insured
is responsible for an accident during the
term of the contract
Important Term
 premiums
Payments made for insurance coverage
 deductible
The amount an insured person agrees to
pay toward repairs before the insurance
company pays anything.
Important Terms
Malpractice
Failure to meet acceptable standards of practice in
any professional or official position.

Medical coverage
Insurance which covers an individual’s own medical
expenses resulting from accidents

Collision coverage
Insurance that pays for damage to the insured’s own
car caused by an automobile collision

Important Terms
Comprehensive coverage
The portion of an insurance policy that protects an individual against
automobile damages or losses other than collisions.

Uninsured motorist coverage
Insurance that protects drivers from those with no insurance or
inadequate insurance.

No-fault insurance
A form of automobile insurance or accident insurance (available in
only a few states) in which each person’s insurance company pays up
to a certain share of damages, regardless of fault.

Exclusive remedy
The only solution, or compensation, available to a plaintiff in a
particular legal situation

Application
 Sixteen-year-old
Carrie is babysitting for
her four-year-old niece Jill. Carrie leaves
Jill alone in the living room and goes into
the kitchen to use the phone to call her
boyfriend. From the kitchen she can hear
but not see Jill. While Carrie is out of the
living room, Jill falls off of a chair and is
hurt.
Application
 Ben,
a defensive tackle on the high
school football team, tackles a teammate
in a full-contact practice. When the
teammate hits the ground, his shoulder is
dislocated.
Application
 Mr.
Ghosh owns a large apartment
building. When his janitors wax the lobby
floor, they place a 12-inch-square sign
near the front door that reads: “Caution.
Wet Floors.” Mrs. Gonzalez is hurrying
home from shopping with two large bags
of groceries. She does not see the sign
and slips and falls on the freshly waxed
floor, injuring her knee and arm.
Application
 Corina
leaves a sharp knife on the kitchen
table after making a sandwich. A threeyear-old neighbor, who has been invited
over to play with Corina’s daughter,
climbs up onto a chair, grabs a knife, and
seriously cuts his finger.
Application
 Jamal,
a school bus driver, has a heart
attack one morning while driving the bus
carrying students to school. As Jamal
loses consciousness, the bus slams into a
wall, injuring several students. One month
earlier during a routine check up, Jamal’s
doctor had warned him of his heart
condition.
Application
 Matt
and Emily are sitting in the upper
deck of the stadium behind first base at a
major league baseball game. A foul ball
hit by their team’s star player bounces off
a nearby railing, smacking Matt in the
head and giving him a concussion.
Application
 Jess,
an expert auto mechanic, continues
to drive her car even though she knows
that the brake linings are badly worn.
Driving below the speed limit on a rain
slick road at night, she slams on the
breaks and skids into a bicyclist who is
riding one foot away from the right curb.
Tort or No Tort?
 Determine
whether a tort has been
committed in each situation.
 If there is a tort:
is it intentional?
is it an act of negligence?
is it an activity for which strict liability
should be imposed?
Tort or No Tort?
 Jose
trips over his untied shoelace while
running to catch a bus, breaking an
ankle.
Tort or No Tort?
 Mr.
Slifko buys a strong painkiller at the
drugstore and takes the capsules
according to the directions on the
package. He has an extremely bad
reaction to the drug and has be taken to
the hospital.
Tort or No tort?
 Chen
drinks too much alcohol at the
office holiday party. His super visor, Ruth,
advises him to take a taxi home, but he
thinks he will be okay if he drives slowly.
Not noticing a stop sign, he strikes and kills
a pedestrian crossing the street.
Insurance?
 You
have an eight-year-old car with a
market value of only $4,000. The annual
cost of collision insurance, should you
continue to purchase it? Give your
reasons. Should you carry liability
insurance? Explain.