Unit 1 Chapter 6 Torts

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Unit 1 Chapter 6 Torts

• What are Torts?
• How are they different than crimes?
• Offense against society vs individual

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Elements of a Tort

• Duty a legal obligation owed another to do or
  not do something.
• Breach a violation of the duty.
• Injury a harm that is recognized by the law.
• Causation proof that the breach caused the
  injury.

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Duty

• The duty not to injure another this includes
  bodily injury, injury to someones reputation, or
  invasion of someones privacy.
• The duty no to interfere with the property rights
  of others, for example, trespass.
• The duty not to interfere with the economic
  rights of others, such as the right to contract.

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Violation of Duty

• A breach, or violation of the duty, must be
  proved before the injured party can collect
  damages. Whether there has been a breach of a
  tort duty is almost always a question of fact for
  a jury to decide.

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Injury

• Generally, injury resulting from breach of duty
  must be proved. If you act recklessly and no one
  is injured. There is no tort.

Yeow!
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Causation

• Causation is simply the idea that breach of duty
  caused the injury.
• Proximate cause-causation is great enough for it
  to be recognized by the law.
• Proximate cause exists when it is reasonably
  foreseeable that a breach will result in an injury

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Intentional Torts

• Assault---Threat to injure
• Battery---harmful or offensive touching
• False imprisonment---depriving freedom of
  movement without consent and without privilege

• Defamation-false statement about product or
  individual-DisparagementSlanderLibelRequiremen
  ts--- False Communicated to 3rd
  party Bring contempt, ridicule, disrepute

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Intentional Torts Continued

• Invasion of Privacy-personal and fundamental
  right protected by constitution
• Trespass-entry onto realty of another without
  permission.
• Conversion-depriving of property.

• Interference with contractual relations-encourage
  to breach.
• Fraud-intentional misrepresentation of a material
  fact-relied on and causes injury.

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Negligence Most common tortIntent not required

• Duty-reasonable man standard(prudent).Degree of
  care varies-under 7 are presumed incapable of
  negligence, professionals are held to higher
  level of care,
• Breach of duty-apply reasonable man standard.
• Violation of duty is cause of injury.

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Defenses to Negligence

• Concept
• Contributory vs Comparative negligence as a
  defense
• Assumption of the risk-you know of the risk
  however, you take it anyway

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Strict(Product) Liability

• Responsible on an absolute basis.
• Dangerous activities you are liable.
• Producers are liable for their products.
• Without this concept it would be difficult to
  prove negligence.

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Damages

• Monetary Damages
• Specific Performance
• Exemplary or Punitive Damages

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The origin of the word Oyez is Middle English,
from Anglo-Norman, hear ye, imperative plural
of oyer, to hear. from Latin audire. The
history of OYEZ is illuminating. "Hearing the cry
'Oyez, oyez, oyez' in a courtroom may
have puzzled more than one auditor, especially if
pronounced 'o yes.' This cry serves to remind us
that up until the 18th century, speaking English
in a British court of law was not required and
that one could use Law French, a form of French
that evolved after the Norman Conquest,
when Anglo-Norman became the language of the
official class in England. Oyez descends from
the Anglo-Norman oyez, the plural imperative of
oyer, 'to hear' thus oyez means 'hear ye' and
was used as a call for silence and attention.
Although it would have been much heard in
Medieval England, it is first recorded as an
English word fairly late in the Middle English
period, in a work composed around 1425."
SOURCE American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language
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THE END