Basics of Tort Law and Negligence

• Tort law sets care standards expected by society.
• Negligence occurs when conduct falls below the legal standard for protecting others from unreasonable harm risks.

Understanding Negligence

• Negligence isn't just forgetfulness; it's about conduct creating unreasonable harm risks.
• A person deeply concerned for others' welfare can still be negligent.
• A person unconcerned for others' safety may not be negligent if their conduct doesn't pose unreasonable harm.

Example Negligent Conduct

• Surgeon forgetting to remove a clamp.
• Leaving a loaded rifle where children play.
• City employee failing to replace a manhole cover.
• Marketing a birth control device without proper testing.

Elements of Negligence

• Negligence is broad and covers many wrongful conduct types.
• A plaintiff must prove these four elements to win a negligence case:
• Duty: Defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff.
• Breach of duty: Defendant violated that duty.
• Causation: Defendant's conduct caused the harm.
• Damages: Plaintiff suffered actual injuries or losses.
• Failure to prove any element means the plaintiff will not win the case.
• Defendants in negligence cases can use legal defenses, different from those in intentional torts.

Duty and Breach

• Everyone has a general duty to exercise reasonable care.
• Negligence law compensates victims harmed by a wrongdoer's breach of reasonable care.
• Harm from inaction generally doesn't create legal duty unless a special relationship exists.

The Reasonable Person Standard

• Everyone has a duty to act reasonably, and breaching it can lead to liability.
• Law uses "reasonable person" as an idealized standard for judging conduct.
• The reasonable person considers harm likelihood and seriousness, balanced against avoidance burden.
• Likelihood and seriousness of the harm are balanced against the burden of avoiding the harm.

Applying the Standard

• Low traffic road example: A reasonable person looks both ways due to high harm seriousness and low avoidance difficulty.
• Cracked walkway example: A reasonable person might not fix it due to low harm likelihood and high repair cost.
• However, might reasonably post a sign warning of the danger.

Property Owners and Duty

• Reasonable care must be used to protect others from harm on your property.
• Generally not liable if a trespasser is injured on your property.
• Exception: Landowners must protect children from dangerous conditions on their property via the attractive nuisance doctrine, hence construction site fencing.
• Guests must be warned of known dangers.
• Business owners have a higher duty to inspect property and ensure safety for business visitors.

Violation of Law

• Violating the law is automatically a breach of reasonable duty.
• If the breach causes injury, the wrongdoer is negligent.

Professionals and Minors

• Professionals are held to the standard of reasonably skilled members of their profession.
• Minors are compared to reasonable conduct for their age, intelligence, and experience; exception: adult activities like driving.

Causation

• Plaintiff must prove the defendant's actions caused harm.
• Two issues: cause in fact and proximate cause.
• Cause in fact: the harm wouldn't have occurred without the wrongful act.
• Proximate cause involves a close connection between the act and harm; harm must be a foreseeable result.
• Negligence law doesn't hold people responsible for unforeseeable harm.

Applying Proximate Cause

• Determining proximate cause can be difficult.
• Unforeseeable extent of damage: It may not be fair to hold someone liable for damages which are far greater than what could of been foreseen
• Dynamite in truck example: Crossing the yellow line is the cause in fact of death, but not the proximate cause unless the person was a pedestrian on the sidewalk close to the collision.
• Multiple negligent parties are responsible for injuries they cause.

Damages

• Plaintiff must prove actual damages to recover in a negligence action.
• Goal is to restore the plaintiff to their pre-injury condition with money.
• Recoverable damages include hospital bills, lost wages, property damage, reduced future earnings, and noneconomic harm.
• Noneconomic harm: Pain, suffering, emotional distress, and permanent physical losses.
• Some states require proof of economic harm before awarding noneconomic damages.

Defenses to Negligence Suits

• Even if all elements of negligence are proven, a defendant can raise a legal defense.
• One group of defenses is based on the plaintiff's conduct.
• Contributory negligence: Plaintiff cannot recover damages if their negligence contributed to the harm.
• Comparative negligence: Loss is divided based on each person's fault degree.
• A counterclaim might be actioned
• Assumption of risk: A person voluntarily encounters known danger.
• "Swim at Your Own Risk" signs, everyone knows knives are sharp etc.

Deliberation: Sports League Liability

• Contact sports have concussion risks leading to potential CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).

CTE Statistics

• CTE was found in high percentages of deceased former football players in a 2017 study.

Liability Concerns

• Families believe leagues should be liable for brain damage, covering medical expenses and lost wages.
• Liability could end leagues due to high costs, affecting athletes.

Legal Arguments

• Lawsuits argue leagues failed to protect players; some claim leagues knew of risks.
• Leagues argue inherent danger is a risk athletes take, often with signed waivers, to sign away the league’s liability should injuries occur.