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Torts Negligence Outline

Prof. Wright

 

  1. Duty
    1. Act
    1. A volitional Act
    2. No Act/ Affirmative Duty to act under certain cases
    1. Breech of Duty/Standard of Care
    1. Was the Plaintiff are Foreseeable one. Two Tests
    1. Types of Harm Suffered
    1. Issues to Plaintiff’s Identity
    1. Applicable Standard of Care
    1. Modifications of General Rule
    1. Physically disabled D
    2. Child D
    3. Professional/Expert
    4. Physician
    5. Emergency
    1. Special Duty Creation
    1. Common Carrier
    2. Innkeeper or Restaurants
    3. Role of Custom
    4. Criminal Statutes
    5. Control of Third Parties
    1. Employer/Employee
    2. Negligent entrustment
    3. Parent/Child
    4. Commercial Establishments/Intoxicated Patrons
    5. Social Hosts/Intoxicated guests
    6. Merchants/protections from Criminal acts
    1. Owner/ Occupier of land
    1. Majority Rule- Categorical approach imposing limited duties and standards of care based upon the status of the plaintiff
    1. Minority Rule: Roland factors; Reasonable person standard regardless of entrant’s status.
    1. Landlord/Tenant
    1. Athletic Activity
  1. Breech of Standard of Care
    1. Types of Evidence
    1. Circumstantial
    2. Malpractice Issues
    1. Res Ipsa Loquitur
    1. Accident doesn’t occur without someone’s negligence
    2. Effect of establishing Res Ipsa
    1. Marginal Utility

1. Likelihood and severity of harm to P balanced against utility, benefits, and necessity of D’s conduct.

  1. Actual Cause of Injuries
    1. But-For Standard
    2. Substantial Factor Standard
    3. Other Possible Causes
    1. Reasonable certainty test
    1. Alternative Liability Test
    1. Successive tortfeasors approach
    1. Concerted action/joint tortfeasors approach
    1. Market share in DES cases
    1. Market share in non-DES cases
    1. Loss of Opportunity
    2. Enhanced Risk of Illness
    1. Damages Issues
    1. Unnecessary Medical Treatment(without informed consent)
    1. Majority
    1. Minority
  1. Proximate Cause of Injuries
    1. Extent of Harm foreseeable or Unforeseeable
    2. Did negligence cause a foreseeable type of harm in a foreseeable way.
    3. Did negligence directly cause the harm
    1. Did negligence indirectly cause the harm
    1. Near in time and Space from negligence to harm
    2. Fairness/ Public policy
  1. Compensatory Damages
    1. Special Damages
    2. General Dames
    3. Pure economic loss
    4. Pure emotional distress
    5. Wrongful pregnancy, birth, death
    6. Loss of consortium
  1. Defenses
    1. Doctrine of avoidable consequences apply
    2. Contributory negligence
    3. Assumption of risk
    1. Express assumption
    2. Implied assumption
    1. Comparative Negligence(Used to reduce P’s award)