Negligence
- Duty
- Breach
- Actual Cause
- Proximate Cause
- Damages
Rescuers Duty
owe independent duty to per se F P’s. Only liable if they leave the victim worse off than when they found them.
No duty to rescue or aid except when:
- D’s tortious conduct created need to rescue
- At CL, if person opts to rescue they must act Rly
- Good Samaritan statute protects rescuer unless they’re reckless or engage in intentional wrongdoing
May a special relationship create a duty?
Yes, carrier/passenger, inn keeper/guest, captain/passengers, drinking buddies
Duty to control TP
No duty UNLESS when a special r between the D and TP gives the TP a right of protection or imposes a duty on D to control the TP’s conduct.
Providers of alcohol duty
Traditional: not responsible for DUI injuries.
Dram Shop: impose liabilit on establishments if they know or should a patron is drunk and that person drives and harms another
Duty when governmental entity?
- Proprietary function: acting in private area, treated as any other D for duty
2 Discretionary activity: using judgment and allocating resources, no duty. - Ministerial function: duty once gov has undertaken to act.
Public Duty Doctrine
Courts finds no duty when professional rescuers (police/firefighters) fail to prove adequate responses, except:
- special relationship, or
- agency increased danger
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
- D engages in N conduct and P suffers emotional distress as a result w/ some sort of physical manifestation
- Exception: mishandling of corpse, D Nly shares info about the death of a loved one
Bystander actions
- P located near scene or incident,
- P suffered severe emotional distress; and
- P had close r w/ victim (immediate family member)
CL - zone of danger
Wrongful conception
Birth of a healthy child after P took steps to avoid conception
Dmgs - cost of N procedure
Wrongful Birth
Birth of child w/ abnormalities, disease, or disability when physician failed to diagnose issues during pregnancy. Mother must testify that she would have had an abortion if the knew.
Wrongful Life
Childs claim for having been born w/ anomalies, disease, or disability b/c physician failed to diagnose. Most states don’t allow
Duties landowner owes
- invitees
- licensees
- trespassers
Invitees
Enter onto Ds land at D’s express or implied invite for a purpose relating to D’s interest or activities.
- public purpose
- D has duty to exercise RC t prevent injuries caused by activities conducted on D’s land.
- duty to Rly search out dangers on property
- RC
Licensees
Enters D’s land w/ D’s express or implied permission and are not there for a purpose of benefitting D or D’s activities. Social guests
- D must warn of known concealed dangers
- RC
Trespassers
Enter D’s land w/o exp or implied consent of land possessor. Duty to avoid infliction of willful or wanton harm
- if known, duty to warn of known and concealed dangerous artificial condtion. RC if known
Attractive Nuisance Doctrine
Child treated as invitee if:
- too young to appreciate the danger
- D knows or has reason to of the trespass
- D knows of the dangerous condition,
- condition is artificial, and
- risk of danger of the artificial condition outweighs its utility and burden to fix it.
If P is not on the land but adjacent to it
Artificial condition - duty of RC
Natural condition - no duty except tress in urban areas
When is a LL liable?
- Common areas over which LL retains control
- N repairs
- At time of lease, LL knows of a concealed dangerous condition; or
- LL knows that t is going to hold property open to public
Standard of Care?
R prudent person of ordinary sensibilities. May take into account (physicial conditions and emergencies not of D’s own making)
Children std of care
Minor d’s conduct is assessed according to what a R child of the same age, experience, education, and intelligence as D would have done.
Exception: engaging in adult activities.
Statutory N
Statutes that provide civil liability supersede CL of torts.
N per se
Criminal Statute: right person and right harm.
- expired drivers license doesn’t count
