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• A tort is a wrongful act causing harm or injury that leads to civil liability

Damages in Tort Actions

• Compensatory damages are awarded to plaintiffs to cover actual losses, aiming to restore them to their pre-tort position
• Special damages cover quantifiable monetary losses like medical expenses and lost wages
• General damages compensate for nonmonetary aspects like pain and suffering
• Punitive damages are awarded to punish wrongdoers and deter similar actions, appropriate only for egregious or reprehensible conduct

Classifications of Torts

• Intentional torts stem from intentional violations of persons or property
• Unintentional torts involve negligence

Defenses

• A defendant can raise a legally recognized defense even if the plaintiff proves all elements of a tort
• Available defenses depend on the specific tort
• Successful defenses can result in partial or full release from liability
• Common defenses include consent and comparative negligence

Intentional Torts Against Persons

• An intentional tort needs intent, meaning the tortfeasor intended to commit an act interfering with personal or business interests in an unlawful way
• In tort law, "intent" means the person intended the consequences of the act or knew certain consequences were likely
• Intent can be transferred if a defendant intends to harm one person but unintentionally harms another
• The statute of limitations sets a time limit for filing a lawsuit

Assault and Battery

• Assault is any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact creating reasonable fear
• Battery is an unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed
• Contact can be harmful, offensive, or unwelcome, with no physical injury needing to occur
• Contact can be made directly or through a force set in motion by the defendant
• Whether contact is offensive is determined by a reasonableness standard
• Pointing a gun is assault; firing it and hitting someone is battery

False Imprisonment

• False imprisonment is the intentional confinement or restraint of another's activities without justification
• Confinement can be through physical barriers, restraint, or threats of force
• Businesses may face false imprisonment suits for detaining suspected shoplifters
• Merchants in most states have the privilege to detain a person suspected of shoplifting
• Detention must be reasonable in manner and length of time, but specifics vary by state

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

• This tort is defined as extreme and outrageous conduct causing severe emotional distress
• Actionable conduct must be so extreme it exceeds societal decency bounds
• North Carolina recognizes alienation of affections tort, allowing lawsuits for ruining a marriage

Defamation

• Defamation requires a false, factual statement (not opinion) communicated to at least one person, causing injury or harm
• Public figures must also show the defendant acted with malice
• Libel is defamation in writing or permanent form, with special and general damages
• Slander is spoken defamation, with special damages

Invasion of Privacy

• Encompasses intrusion into private affairs like searching property or eavesdropping
• It also involves portraying someone negatively through false light
• Public disclosure of private facts and using someone's identity without permission for commercial gain are also included

Fraudulent Misrepresentation

• This occurs when someone uses intentional deceit for personal gain
• It involves misstating a material fact, knowing it's false, to persuade another party to rely on it, resulting in damages

Business Torts

• Wrongful interference with a contract requires a valid contract, the defendant knowing of it, intentionally persuading a third party to breach it, and the plaintiff experiencing damages

Wrongful Interference with a Developing Economic Relationship

• Includes spreading false rumors to drive business away from a competitor

Intentional Torts Against Property

• Trespass to land involves intentionally entering another's land or remaining after being asked to leave

Conversion

• Conversion is the wrongful taking or using of another's personal property

Negligence

• Negligence occurs when someone suffers injury due to another's failure to fulfill a duty of care
• The tortfeasor doesn't intend the consequences but creates a risk
• Intentional torts can be considered negligence if intent is unproven

Elements of Negligence

• Duty: The defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff
• Breach: The defendant breached that duty
• Causation in Fact: The injury wouldn't have occurred without the breach
• Proximate Causation: The connection between breach and injury is foreseeable
• Damages: The plaintiff suffered a legally recognizable injury
• Emotional harm alone is insufficient

Determining Breach of Duty

• The reasonable person standard: courts assess how a reasonable person would have acted in similar circumstances
• The reasonable person standard is objective

Duty of Landowners in North Carolina

• Landowners must not unnecessarily expose lawful visitors to dangerous situations and must warn of hidden dangers if they know of them or should have known
• No duty to warn if the condition is obvious
• The duty owed to trespassers in NC is to refrain from willfully harming them

Duty of Professionals

• Professionals are held to a higher standard of care due to their superior knowledge, skill, or training
• If a professional violates their duty of care, they may be sued for malpractice

Good Samaritan Statutes

• These protect those who voluntarily aid others from being sued for negligence

Dram Shop Acts

• These hold bar owners or bartenders liable for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons

Defenses to Negligence

• Defendants often claim the required elements of negligence weren't met
• Assumption of risk: A plaintiff knowingly entering a risky situation cannot recover
• Superseding cause: An unforeseeable event breaks the connection between the wrongful act and injury

Contributory vs Comparative Negligence

• Contributory negligence: A plaintiff who was also negligent could not recover anything from the defendant (followed in NC)
• Comparative negligence: Plaintiff and defendant negligence are computed, and damages are distributed accordingly

Strict Liability

• Strict liability applies to abnormally dangerous activities, regardless of fault

Product Liability

• Those who make, sell, or lease goods can be held liable for harm caused by those goods

Product Liability Claims

• Based on negligence: manufacturers must exercise due care in all production areas
• Privity of contract isn't required to sue
• Fraudulent misrepresentation: requires knowingly false misrepresentation and intent to induce reliance
• Strict product liability: applies to sellers of goods if the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous when it left the seller

Unreasonably Dangerous Products

• Products are dangerous beyond an ordinary consumer's expectation
• A less dangerous alternative was feasible but not produced

Manufacturing Defects

• Occurs when a product departs from its intended design, even with due care

Design Defects

• Exist when a product's design is flawed
• Proving requires showing a reasonable alternative design existed and the failure to adopt it made the product unsafe

Inadequate Warnings

• Products can be defective due to inadequate warnings or instructions
• Sellers must warn of harm from foreseeable misuse
• No duty to warn of obvious risks

Strict Liability Application

• Applied to manufacturers and sellers to injured bystanders
• Also applies to suppliers of component parts

Defenses to Product Liability

• Include statute of limitations, preemption, assumption of risk, product misuse, comparative negligence, and commonly known dangers