This is chapter 7 of the course LA 201. This chapter covers Tort Law. These notes are very thorough, organized, and color-coded. They include notes taken from the book (black) and notes from in class (red). I made an A in this class and made 100's or above on all tests, including the final.
Tort Law
Tort- a noncontractual civil wrong; results in injury or other loss for which the injured party has a legal remedy
● A lawsuit not about contracts; obligations you hold to others; someone has to be injured and there has to be a remedy
● Medical malpractice, personal injuries, damage to property, damage to reputation
Tortfeasor- one who commits a tort
Remedy- the means to achieve justice in any matter in which legal rights are involved
● Injunction or damages
Injury- a harm suffered by a person due to an act by or omission of another person
Relief- the redress or assistance that a party seeks from a court
Injunction- a court order directing the defendant to stop some type of conduct
Damages- money compensation for loss or injury caused by the wrongful act of another
Elements- the requirements for a cause of action; duty, breach, injury, causation
Cause of Action- the basis upon which a lawsuit may be brought to the court; type of lawsuit- negligence, medical malpractice, battery
or product liability
● It is necessary to sustain a cause of action that all of the elements of that cause be met. If any element fails, the lawsuit fails.
Intentional Tort- a tort that is willful and meant to cause harm
-battery, false imprisonment, trespass, intentional infliction of emotional distress
-each intentional tort has its own elements, but in general, plaintiff must:
● Show that the tortfeasor acted
● With intent
● And caused injury to the plaintiff
-the intent that must be established is the intention to act. It is, generally, not required for the plaintiff to prove an intention to injure.
the 'egg shell' rule
Assault and Battery
-Elements of Assault:
● An intentional act
● Causing
● Reasonable fear
● Of harm or offensive touching
-Elements of Battery:
● An intentional act
● Causing
● Harmful or offensive touching or contact
-can include medical malpractice or sexual battery
^assault is causing fear of harm; battery is causing harm from contact
-Possible Defenses:
● Consent
, ● Self-defense
● Privilege (limit rights, such as corporal punishment)- says that this person had the right/privilege to touch you in an unwanted
way; ex: parents spanking their children, police officers handcuffing someone
Koffman v. Garnett- a football coach did a tackle drill on a 13 year old player; this drill broke the child's left arm; child sued coach for
assault and battery; trial court dismissed the case saying that playing football is "inherently dangerous and always potentially violent";
child appealed the case
● Court said that the case didn’t meet the requirements for assault- by the time he would have been fearful, battery was alread
happening
● Coach said that by playing football, the kid consented to being tackled; kid said that he consented to being tackled by people h
age and size, not a grown man
False Arrest/Imprisonment
Elements of False Imprisonment:
● Intentional confinement of a person that is
● Complete, not consensual, and known to the victim, and
● Without lawful privilege
Elements of False Arrest:
● A false imprisonment
● Under claim of right to arrest
● Without legal right to arrest
^Shopkeeper's Privilege- the right of a merchant to make reasonable detention of a patron where there is probable cause to believe
that shoplifting occurred
Defamation- Libel and Slander
Elements of Libel/Slander:
● An oral (slander) or written (libel) publication
● Of a factual statement
● That is untrue, and
● Injurious to a person's reputation
^Publication means only that the statement is made to a 3rd party
^Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Satire is a defense to defamation if the hearer should reasonably understand the
statement isn't meant as fact.
^Slander Per Se- a statement that on its face is defamatory
^Conflict between defamation and the 1st amendment- don't we have freedom of speech?
● When you start saying things that hurt other people, you don't get the right to do that
New York Times v. Sullivan- Times published an ad for donations for causes about the Civil Rights Movement; ad alleged that police we
engaging in unlawful conduct; Sullivan was an elected official in charge of supervising police; Supreme Court ruled under 1st and 14th
Amendment that public figures alleging defamation must prove "actual malice"- the publisher of the statement actually knew the
statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for whether it was true or not
● public figures do not have the same kind of libel and slander rights as private citizens- they put themselves into the public, wh
comes with being talked about
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