Introduction to Negligence and Liability

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Questions and Answers

What does P argue for in terms of negligence standards?

  • Strict liability standard
  • Individual intelligence standard
  • No specific standard proposed
  • Reasonably prudent person standard (correct)

Which of the following is NOT a reason favoring a reasonably prudent person standard over individual intelligence?

  • Better protection of property ownership
  • Predictability in behavior
  • Avoiding individual capacity complications
  • Accessibility of intelligence tests (correct)

What does the term 'Ex Ante' refer to in negligence cases?

  • Prediction of an event before it happens (correct)
  • Judgment after the event has occurred
  • Clear rule application
  • Standard evaluation of behavior

What is a significant problem mentioned regarding juries and their decision-making?

<p>Inconsistent interpretations of what is considered reasonable (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, what is a characteristic of a 'rule' compared to a 'standard'?

<p>More consistent and objective (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a potential issue with applying a strict rule-like standard in negligence cases?

<p>It may produce absurd results when applied consistently (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What formula is mentioned in the context of moving away from traditional standards in negligence evaluation?

<p>BPL formula (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the context of deterrence, why is it important for caretakers or individuals with lower intelligence to monitor behaviors?

<p>To prevent potential negligent behaviors (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does ex post refer to in tort law?

<p>An assessment of actions after harm has occurred. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How can ex ante actions impose costs on businesses?

<p>By requiring safety enhancements to prevent accidents. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad, what was the main focus of the case?

<p>The foreseeability of harm prior to the incident. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Hand Formula emphasize in negligence cases?

<p>Balancing the costs of prevention against potential harm. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the 'Reasonable Prudent Person' standard?

<p>The behavior of a typical member of the community under similar circumstances. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one characteristic of strict liability principles?

<p>It emphasizes risk mitigation over fault-finding. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the 'Negligence' formula emphasize in relation to a breach?

<p>The roles of customs in determining negligence. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary goal of tort law when focusing on ex ante measures?

<p>To prevent harm before it occurs through proactive measures. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a key factor in the court's holding in Davis v. Feinstein?

<p>P's efforts to compensate for his blindness (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In terms of liability, what does the court aim to achieve according to the ruling?

<p>To incentivize reasonable precautions to lower social costs (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Rule of Sevens imply about children under age 7?

<p>They are assumed incapable of negligence. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements is true regarding the consideration of physical versus mental capabilities in court?

<p>Courts are more likely to change standards based on physical characteristics. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What precaution could have been taken by D to potentially avoid liability in this case?

<p>Installing a visible barrier at the cellar door (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does the cause of P's fall illustrate the court’s stance on disabilities?

<p>The standard of care is adjusted based on physical disabilities. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the holding in Davis v. Feinstein suggest about expectations for people with disabilities?

<p>They may require accommodations to safely navigate environments. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What overarching principle can be derived from the liability standard applied in the case?

<p>Reasonable care must consider individual capabilities. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What justification might have allowed Eckert to negotiate a deal with RR?

<p>Eckert offered to save the kid if compensated. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the context of Eckert's decision-making, which factor outweighs the expected cost according to the economics mentioned?

<p>Expected benefits of rescue. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What type of analysis is crucial when assessing liability in cases similar to Margharita's situation?

<p>BPL (Benefit-Prediction-Liability) analysis. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was Margharita's main argument against the ship owners?

<p>They neglected to deviate for his medical care. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What incident led to Martinez's injury while on the Margharita?

<p>A shark attack. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best summarizes the BPL approach as discussed?

<p>It analyzes human suffering in relation to economic losses. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a significant consequence of the approach taken by the Margharita after Martinez's incident?

<p>The ship continued on its course without detours. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What factor is NOT typically considered in the BPL approach?

<p>Legal repercussions for ship owners. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the context of liability, what standard are minors held to when engaged in activities normally undertaken by adults?

<p>They are held to an adult standard of care. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What factors determine that a minor should be held to an adult standard of care?

<p>The activity involves inherent risks and is usually performed by adults. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which statement best describes the distinction between the Purtle and Dellwo cases?

<p>The <em>Purtle</em> case involves hunting licenses granted to minors, while <em>Dellwo</em> discusses knowledge of age. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one advantage of having standardized practices in different localities?

<p>It reduces the risk of substandard practices being protected by localized norms. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What implication does the case Dellwo have on minor liability for operating vehicles?

<p>Vehicle operation prevents knowing the age of the operator, complicating liability. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a potential disadvantage of applying standardized practices across localities?

<p>Challenges in identifying what constitutes a similar locality. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Under what circumstance is a minor not protected against the imprudence of youth?

<p>If they are warned of potential dangers. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do standardized practices affect the accountability of professionals?

<p>They help hold professionals accountable across different regions. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a condition for applying the adult standard of care to minors?

<p>They are engaged in a dangerous activity typically undertaken by adults. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a key reason why minors operating powerboats could be held liable?

<p>The activity is recognized as dangerous and generally performed by adults. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What challenge may arise from the application of standardized practices in isolated areas?

<p>Unique challenges of these areas might be overlooked. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one way minors can be protected from liability during adult activities?

<p>If they are warned about the inherent risks involved. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Standardized practices aim to balance which aspects between rural and urban settings?

<p>Rural and urban standards while maintaining accountability. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which statement most accurately reflects the outcome of localized norms on substandard practices?

<p>Localized norms can sometimes obscure substandard practices. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one reason why determining similar localities can be challenging?

<p>Localities may differ significantly in their standards and challenges. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What benefit do standardized practices provide in relation to professionals' actions?

<p>They ensure that all professionals adhere to a fixed set of rules. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Reasonably Prudent Person Standard

A legal standard that judges a person's conduct against the hypothetical actions of a reasonable person in similar circumstances.

Individual Standard of Intelligence

A legal standard that judges a person's conduct based on their own individual mental capabilities.

Administrability

The ease with which a legal standard can be applied and understood. It's important for predictable outcomes and efficiency in the legal system.

Bearing the Loss

The concept that certain losses are considered acceptable, even if they could have been prevented.

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Deterrence

The idea that legal standards should create incentives to prevent harm. For example, holding people accountable for negligence encourages them to act responsibly.

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Hand Formula (BPL)

A method of analyzing negligence by comparing the cost of preventing harm with the potential severity of the harm.

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Custom

A legal standard that considers the practices common in a particular industry or profession. "Custom" can help determine what is considered reasonable conduct.

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Rule

A clear, specific rule in the law that leaves little room for interpretation. It aims to create consistency and predictability.

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Adult Activity Exception

A legal principle where a minor is held to the same standard of care as an adult when engaging in an activity typically performed by adults.

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Pearson Case

A court case that established the Adult Activity Exception, focusing on the specific example of a minor operating a powerboat and causing injury.

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Factors for Applying the Adult Activity Exception

When determining liability for a minor's actions, the court considers if the activity was dangerous to others and typically performed by adults.

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Distinction between Purtle and Dellwo Cases

This legal principle differentiates between minors engaged in activities like hunting (where age requirements make it likely an adult is involved) and driving (where anyone could be behind the wheel).

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Dellwo Case - Age Uncertainty

In the Dellwo case, the court emphasized that it's difficult to know if someone operating a vehicle is an adult or a minor.

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Purtle Case - Age Restriction

The Purtle case highlights that in activities with age restrictions, like hunting, it's more likely that the participant is an adult.

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Holding in the Pearson Case

A minor who causes harm while engaging in an activity typically done by adults will be held to the same standard of care as an adult.

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Purpose of the Adult Activity Exception

The Adult Activity Exception ensures that minors who engage in activities typically performed by adults are held accountable for their actions in the same way adults are held accountable.

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Ex Post

Legal doctrines that address harm after it happens. For example, a court determining if a company was negligent by failing to install safety rails after someone was injured.

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Ex Ante

Legal doctrines that aim to prevent harm before it happens. For example, laws requiring companies to install safety rails to prevent accidents.

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Reasonable Prudent Person

The legal standard used to determine if someone acted negligently. It asks: What would a reasonable person have done in the same situation?

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Strict Liability

The legal principle that a person is liable for harm caused by their actions, even if they didn't intend to cause harm. For example, a company may be held liable for a faulty product even if they did not know it was faulty.

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Negligence Per Se

A legal doctrine that holds a defendant liable for negligence if they violated a safety standard, even if their actions were not unreasonable.

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Res Ipsa Loquitor

A legal doctrine that allows a plaintiff to prove negligence without direct evidence of the defendant's actions. It applies when the harm is something that would not ordinarily occur without negligence.

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Hand Formula

The analysis courts use to determine if a defendant's actions were negligent. It involves balancing the probability of harm, gravity of the harm, and the cost of preventing the harm.

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Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad

A landmark case that illustrates the tension between ex ante and ex post analysis. It involved a woman injured by a falling scale at a train station, raising questions about foreseeability of harm versus actual harm.

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Incentivizing Reasonable Precautions

The court tries to provide a legal standard that encourages everyone to take reasonable precautions, aiming to reduce overall societal costs. This promotes safety by minimizing accidents and their consequences.

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Accounting for Physical Disabilities

The court considers a person's physical disabilities when determining if they acted reasonably. For example, a blind person might take more time navigating, and a reasonable person would understand this.

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Davis v. Feinstein: Duty to Protect

In the case of Davis v. Feinstein, the plaintiff (P) fell through an open cellar door in front of the defendant's (D) door. The court concluded that the defendant should have taken precautions to prevent such accidents, realizing that a blind person cannot be expected to avoid falling into a cellar door without barriers or other safeguards.

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Lower Standard of Care for Children

Children are held to a lower standard of care than adults, taking into account their maturity and lack of experience. This means their actions are judged differently when considering negligence.

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Rule of Sevens: Under 7

A legal principle that states children under the age of seven are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence. This means they cannot be found legally responsible for their actions.

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Rule of Sevens: 7-14

The Rule of Sevens is a legal concept that distinguishes the level of care expected from children. The rule states that children under 7 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence, while children between 7 and 14 are presumed to be capable of negligence, but this presumption can be rebutted.

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Rule of Sevens: Over 14

The Rule of Sevens is a legal principle that sets a legal standard for judging children's actions. Children under 7 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence, while children between 7 and 14 generally capable, and children over 14 are presumed capable, but this presumption can be rebutted.

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Physical vs. Mental Capabilities

Physical limitations, like blindness or a missing limb, are generally easier to account for in legal judgments than mental capabilities, which can be more subjective and nuanced. Courts may be more adaptable to adjust legal standards for individuals based on observable, physical differences.

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Economics of Rescue

Economic analysis of the potential costs and benefits of a rescue. Expected benefits of the rescue should outweigh the expected costs.

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Balancing of Probabilities and Loss (BPL)

A legal standard that requires weighing both human suffering and economic loss in a negligence analysis, rather than focusing solely on one.

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Expected Benefits Exceeding Costs

The situation where the potential value of rescuing someone outweighs the expected cost of doing so.

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Expanding Probability Assessment

In cases of negligence, the court has primarily considered the probability of one type of loss. BPL expands this to include the probability of different types of loss.

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Ex Post Compensation

The practice of compensating someone for a loss that occurred in the past.

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Compensation for Beneficial Actions

The principle of fairness in determining whether a person should be held liable for negligence. Individuals who act in a way that benefits society, even if their actions are potentially risky, should not be penalized.

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Liability

The situation where a company or individual is legally responsible for damages caused by their negligence or actions.

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Locality Rule

A standard of care that considers the actions of a reasonable professional operating in a similar geographic area or specialty.

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Purpose of Locality Rule

The locality rule seeks to balance the need for consistent care with the unique circumstances of different geographic locations. While holding professionals accountable, it also recognizes that resource availability and community needs can vary.

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Locality Rule Challenges

The locality rule can be difficult to apply because it's not always clear what constitutes a 'similar locality.' For example, are two towns with similar populations and medical facilities considered similar enough?

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Locality Rule Limitations

While the locality rule aims to manage diverse standards, it might still overlook the unique challenges faced by professionals in highly isolated areas, where resources and expertise may be limited.

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Benefits of Locality Rule

The locality rule can help to ensure that professionals are held to reasonable standards, even in areas where there are limited resources or unique challenges. It aims to promote fairness and quality of care across different regions.

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National Standard of Care

A legal standard where a person's conduct is judged against the hypothetical actions of an average professional in the same specialty, regardless of local standards.

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Benefits of National Standard

This standard is more common than the Locality Rule, as it focuses on a consistent, high level of care regardless of location. This helps ensure quality and consistency regardless of where you are.

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Study Notes

Attack Introduction

  • Negligence is the reasonable person: a person of ordinary prudence, considering all the surrounding factors.
  • The Hand Formula (BPL/Cost-Benefit Analysis): Determines whether a precaution is worth the expense: considering if the cost (B) to take a particular precaution is less than the probability (P) of an accident times loss(L) expected from that accident.

Negligence

  • Custom: a common way in which people behave. Sometimes showing custom helps prove reasonable care or to show lack of it.
  • Negligence Per Se: An act that violates a law which exists to prevent the sort of harm that occurred. Violation is negligence.
  • Res Ipsa Loquitur: "The thing speaks for itself" - If an accident occurred in a way that would not normally happen unless someone was careless, the burden of proof shifts to the party (defendant).

Strict Liability

  • Activity Levels and Respondeat Superior: If someone is doing things for their company at work in a manner that harms another, the company (employers) are likely liable.
  • Preponderance of the Evidence Rules: This is a basic standard for determining whether a person's actions were truly negligent. It basically means that the evidence must weigh over the other information, and over 50% prove the fact you're trying to prove.
  • Loss of Chance: a particular type of causation case where P's damages are measured not by whether P survived but the percentage reduction in likelihood of survival or recovery, etc. this occurs when P is already predisposed to a certain injury before the accident occured.
  • Multiple Defendants: A situation where someone was harmed while more than one person was potentially negligent and responsible. It's a unique area of the law.

Causation

  • Remoteness and Foreseeability: Whether a defendant could (reasonably) foresee that their negligent act would cause subsequent harm.
  • Intervening Causes: If an unforeseeable event occurs between the negligent act and the injury, it may break the chain of causation. It is important to use this analysis when determining which party is responsible for harm done.

Damages

  • Ability to get Damages: Factors that affect whether or not someone brings a lawsuit.
  • Compensatory Damages: Awarded by courts to compensate people who have been injured by another party's negligence.
  • Economic Refinements, Insurance, and Intangible Losses. These are types of compensatory damages that include calculating financial loss and pain and suffering.
  • Punitive Damages: Awarded when a party's conduct has harmed another to a high degree.

Duties and Defenses

  • Duties from Affirmative Acts, Undertakings, Special Relationships
  • Duties Arising from Affirmative Acts: An act by the defendant that created a duty where there was none.
  • Cases where the D has done something (action that harms someone else) and is that something enough to create a duty on D: A specific type of case where there was no prior duty, but some action by the defendant created a new duty and a liability on them.

Mental Abilities

  • Vaughn v. Menlove: Objective Standard- Reasonable Person.

Physical Disabilities

  • Examples in Torts.
  • Key Differences in a Torts Context.
  • Application in 1L Torts Class

Breach:

  • Negligence
  • Strict Liability

Negligence = Duty + Breach

  • The Reasonable Person

Mental Abilities/Physical Disabilities

  • Tests for Negligence: reasonable prudent person
  • Moving away from standards
  • Mental Abilities
  • Case: Vaughn v. Menlove.
  • Case: Fredericks v. Castora
  • Case: Kerr v. Connecticut Co.
  • Example in Torts.

Age

  • General Rule
  • Rule of Sevens
  • Exceptions

Products Liability

  • The Move to Modern Products Liability
  • Manufacturing Defects
  • Design Defects
  • Marketing Defects

Intentional Torts

  • Battery, Consent, Trespass, Conversion, and False Imprisonment
  • Privileges and Necessity

Ultrahazardous Activities

  • Facts & Holding.
  • Rule and Key Ideas.

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

  • Facts & Holding
  • Rule and Key Ideas

Causation: But-For & Proximate Causation

  • But for causation
  • Proximate causation
  • Problems with BPL
  • Case: NY Central Railroad v. Grimstad
  • Case: Gardner v. National Bulk Carriers
  • Case: Stacy v. Knickerbocker Ice

Causation: Multiple Defendants

  • Doctrine of Alternative Liability
  • Case: Summers v. Tice
  • Case: Kingston v. Chicago Northwest Railway
  • Case: Litzman v. Humboldt
  • In General

Damages/Economic Refinements

  • Compensatory damages
  • Economic Refinements, insurance, and intangible losses
  • How to measure damages: present, future, loss of enjoyment, diminished value, future costs
  • Case: Newlin v. NE Telephone (No pure economic loss case)
  • Case: Madison Gourmet Foods v. Finlandia (Pure economic loss case)

Duty v. Proximate Cause

  • In General
  • Policy Concerns
  • Examples
  • Policy justifications for a nuanced proximate cause rule
  • Case: Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad
  • Case: Doughty v. Turner

Damages and Discrimination

  • concerns with bias in damages
  • Case: Landers v. Ghosh

Additional Notes on Intervening Causes

  • Proof Problems
  • Victim Precaution
  • Activity Levels
  • Loss of Chance
  • Full Formula in Context
  • Cases

Intentional Tort Categories and Elements

  • Battery
  • Assault
  • False Imprisonment
  • IIED

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