CA Civil Code & Personal Injury Law PDF

The California Civil Code & Personal Injury Law Luis General Dec 2024 (v. 3) CA Civil Code: An Overview Overview  First enacted in 1872  1 of the 29 codes in CA  Integral part of the legal structu...

The California Civil Code & Personal Injury Law Luis General Dec 2024 (v. 3) CA Civil Code: An Overview Overview  First enacted in 1872  1 of the 29 codes in CA  Integral part of the legal structure  Represents a substantial part of private law  defines and regulates legal relationships among individuals and businesses  governs the general obligations and rights of persons within CA jurisdiction  offers a framework for understanding and adjudicating disputes Structure / Divisions Division 1 - Persons: legal aspects of personhood; personal rights, marriage, divorce, and the rights and duties of parents and children → Note: CA now has a separate Family Code Division 2 - Property: property ownership and transactions; laws of possession, use, and enjoyment of property; how property can be acquired, transferred, and lost. Division 3 - Obligations: contractual agreements, obligations arising from contracts, interpretation of contracts, and the effect of obligations. Division 4 - General Provisions: miscellaneous provisions that do not fall under the other three divisions. Civil v. Common Law  Structured similarly to the inherited Colonial Spanish and Mexican civil codes (civil law regimes).  BUT: Many of its sections are codifications of well-established American common law concepts  Provisions Directly Related to Personal Injury Law: Intentional & Non-Intentional Acts Protection from bodily restraint or harm, personal insult, defamation, injury to personal relations (§ 43) “Besides the personal rights mentioned or recognized in the Government Code, every person has, subject to the qualifications and restrictions provided by law, the right of protection from bodily restraint or harm, from personal insult, from defamation, and from injury to his personal relations.” Protection from bodily restraint or harm, personal insult, defamation, injury to personal relations (§ 43) o Foundational to many types of personal injury claims o Protects individuals from harm to their person, property, or reputation o Wide range of harmful conduct o Physical injuries caused by another person's negligence or intentional misconduct o Defamation o Interference with family relationships Defamation (§§ 44, 45, 46) Cover both libel and slander → cause harm to a person's reputation Defamation can be the basis for a personal injury lawsuit if it causes damage Unruh Civil Rights Act (§ 51) All persons within California:  are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status  are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever. Unruh Civil Rights Act (§ 51) Title III guarantees that individuals with disabilities are offered full and equal enjoyment of the “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” offered by a place of public accommodation. Unruh Civil Rights Act (§ 51) A plaintiff must show: (1) that he or she was denied equal treatment or was otherwise discriminated against by the business establishment, (2) that a motivating reason for the discrimination was the perception of plaintiff’s protected status, (3) that the plaintiff was harmed, and (4) that the conduct of the business establishment was a substantial factor in causing that harm. Unruh Civil Rights Act (§ 51)  While the Act primarily addresses discrimination and civil rights violations, its principles can intersect with premises liability cases under certain circumstances.  For instance, if a premises liability claim involves elements of discrimination or denial of equal access → potentially applicable  its direct application to premises liability cases is limited and would typically only come into play if there were allegations of discriminatory practices linked to the injury Tort (§ 1708) Injury to person or property or infringing upon person's rights — “Every person is bound, without contract, to abstain from injuring the person or property of another, or infringing upon any of his or her rights.” Negligence (§ 1714) General principle: Everyone is responsible for the result of his or her willful acts, and also for an injury caused to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill (negligence), except so far as the latter has contributed to the injury. Negligence (§ 1714(a)) (a) Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself. The design, distribution, or marketing of firearms and ammunition is not exempt from the duty to use ordinary care and skill that is required by this section. The extent of liability in these cases is defined by the Title on Compensatory Relief. Negligence (§ 1714(a)) - A primary basis for premises liability and MV negligence - Imposes a duty on property owners to exercise "ordinary care or skill" in managing their property Duty of care to keep premises safe for entry or use for recreational purpose (§ 846) PREMISES LIABILITY - GR: duty of care extends to both private and public property owners - Exception: CC § 846 Property owners do not owe a duty of care to people who enter their property for recreational purposes, unless: - the property owner willfully or maliciously fails to warn of or protect against a dangerous condition, - charges a fee for entry, or - expressly invites the person onto the property Duty of care to keep premises safe for entry or use for recreational purpose (§ 846) Those who own, control, lease or occupy property are not responsible for injuries when the injuries result from the injured’s entry on the property for the purpose of recreation under § 846, but they may still be responsible for injuries when the injured can prove that: - The defendant maliciously or willfully failed to warn about or protect others from a dangerous condition, - The defendant charged a fee for permission to enter the property with the purpose of recreation, –or– - The defendant invited the injured to enter their property. Duty of care to keep premises safe for entry or use for recreational purpose (§ 846) Defendants in premises liability cases should have known about dangerous conditions when, under the circumstances, dangerous conditions exist long enough and are of such a nature that defendants have enough time to discover them and, utilizing reasonable care:  Repair the dangerous condition;  Protect others from being harmed by the condition, or;  Provide adequate warning about the condition. Duty of care to keep premises safe for entry or use for recreational purpose (§ 846) Those who own, lease, control or occupy property must conduct reasonable inspections of their property to identify unsafe conditions. When inspections aren’t made in a reasonable time frame prior to accidents, it may be concluded that the dangerous condition existed for a long enough period of time for it to be discovered utilizing reasonable care. Negligence (§ 1714(a)) → Damages, Non-Econ (§ 3333.4) Primary bases for auto accidents liability / MV negligence - Imposes a duty on property owners to exercise "ordinary care or skill" in using their property ~ motor vehicle Liability of motor vehicle owner CA Vehicle Code § 17150 “Every owner of a motor vehicle is liable and responsible for death or injury to person or property resulting from a negligent or wrongful act or omission in the operation of the motor vehicle, in the business of the owner or otherwise, by any person using or operating the same with the permission, express or implied, of the owner.” Strict Liability (§§ 3342 and 3342.5) Strict liability of dog owners for dog bites: The dog owner is liable for damages suffered by anyone who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness. Product Liability (§1714.45) — Product inherently unsafe and common consumer product intended for human consumption “’product liability action’ means any action for injury or death caused by a product, except that the term does not include an action based on a manufacturing defect or breach of an express warranty.” Medical Malpractice / Negligence (§ 3333.1) "Professional negligence" means a negligent act or omission to act by a health care provider in the rendering of professional services, which act or omission is the proximate cause of a personal injury or wrongful death, provided that such services are within the scope of services for which the provider is licensed and which are not within any restriction imposed by the licensing agency or licensed hospital. Other obligations imposed by law (§§ 1708-1725)  Invasion of Privacy (§ 1708.8): Illegal to physically invade a person's privacy to capture an image, sound recording, etc. in an offensive manner can form the basis of a personal injury lawsuit  Emotional Distress (§§ 46, 1708): Intentional infliction of emotional distress → tort → personal injury damages Provisions Directly Related to Personal Injury Law: DAMAGES Presumption Obligation Joint and Several (§ 1431) An obligation imposed upon several persons, or a right created in favor of several persons, is presumed to be joint, and not several, except as provided in Section 1431.2, and except in the special cases mentioned in the title on the interpretation of contracts. This presumption, in the case of a right, can be overcome only by express words to the contrary. Comparative Fault (§§ 1431.1 & 1431.2) allows a plaintiff to recover damages even if they were partially at fault for their injuries but reduces their damages in proportion to their degree of fault Defendants Held Financially Liable in Closer Proportion to Degree of Fault (§ 1431.1) “…Therefore, the People of the State of California declare that to remedy these inequities, defendants in tort actions shall be held financially liable in closer proportion to their degree of fault. To treat them differently is unfair and inequitable.” Several Liability for Non-economic Damages (§ 1431.2) (a) In any action for personal injury, property damage, or wrongful death, based upon principles of comparative fault, the liability of each defendant for non-economic damages shall be several only and shall not be joint. Each defendant shall be liable only for the amount of non- economic damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault, and a separate judgment shall be rendered against that defendant for that amount.” Several Liability for Non-economic Damages (§ 1431.2) "economic damages" means objectively verifiable monetary losses including medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment and loss of business or employment opportunities. "non-economic damages" means subjective, non-monetary losses including, but not limited to, pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation and humiliation. Damages (§§ 1431, 3281, 3283, 3288, 3291, 3294-95, 3333- 3343.7) - All under the CC Title: Compensatory Relief - Bases for monetary compensation a plaintiff can receive in a successful personal injury lawsuit - Economic and non-economic losses - Punitive damages Damages; Generally (§ 3281) “Every person who suffers detriment from the unlawful act or omission of another, may recover from the person in fault a compensation therefor in money, which is called damages.” Damages; Future Damages (§ 3283) “Damages may be awarded, in a judicial proceeding, for detriment resulting after the commencement thereof, or certain to result in the future.” Breach of obligation not arising from contract, oppression, fraud or malice (§ 3288) “In an action for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, and in every case of oppression, fraud, or malice, interest may be given, in the discretion of the jury.” When damages recoverable for sake of example and by way of punishment; employer liability for acts of employee; death from homicide (§ 3294) “(a) In an action for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice, the plaintiff, in addition to the actual damages, may recover damages for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.” Breach of obligation not arising from contract (§ 3333) “For the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this Code, is the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused thereby, whether it could have been anticipated or not.” Breach of obligation not arising from contract (§ 3333) “For the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this Code, is the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused thereby, whether it could have been anticipated or not.” Damages for noneconomic losses in action arising out of operation or use of motor vehicle (§ 3333.4) Anyone who is uninsured at the time of an accident, even when they are not at fault, are prohibited from seeking non-economic damages from the offending or at-fault driver. Questions? Individual Outputs – Presentation THANK YOU! ☺☺☺