Verfassungsrecht — Mittelstufe (B1/B2) 2: Tort Law: Intentional Torts, Negligence (Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages) & Strict Liability

[Deutsch] Verfassungsrecht: Civil wrongs, intentional torts to person and property, the four negligence elements, causation doctrines, defenses, and strict products liability.

Level
intermediate
Languages
de → de
Cards
32
Markdown
Verfassungsrecht — Mittelstufe (B1/B2) 2: Tort Law: Intentional Torts, Negligence (Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages) & Strict Liability (.md)

Flashcards (32)

#Front (Term / Question)Back (Definition / Answer)ExampleMultiple-Choice Options
1What is the procedural doctrine of 'Res Ipsa Loquitur' ('The thing speaks for itself')?Creates a permissible inference of negligence without direct proof of breach when: (1) the accident is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence, (2) the instrumentality causing the injury was under defendant's exclusive control, and (3) plaintiff was free from contributory fault.
2What are the required elements for a Strict Products Liability claim?1. Defendant is a commercial seller or manufacturer engaged in selling the product. 2. Product was defective when it left defendant's control. 3. Defect was the actual and proximate cause of plaintiff's injury. 4. Product reached the consumer without substantial alteration, causing physical harm.
3What is 'Respondeat Superior' and how do 'Frolic' and 'Detour' affect vicarious liability?An employer is strictly vicariously liable for torts committed by employees within the scope of employment. A minor deviation for personal reasons ('detour') remains within the scope of employment; an extensive, total departure from the employer's business ('frolic') severs vicarious liability.
4What is the 'Attractive Nuisance Doctrine' regarding child trespassers?Imposes liability on landowners for physical harm to trespassing children caused by an artificial condition if: (1) landowner knows children are likely to trespass, (2) condition poses unreasonable risk of death/serious injury, (3) children do not realize risk, and (4) utility of maintaining condition is slight compared to risk.
5What foundational rule of proximate cause emerged from Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.?A defendant owes a duty of care only to 'foreseeable plaintiffs' located within the foreseeable zone of danger created by defendant's negligent conduct; unexpected harm to an unforeseeable plaintiff outside the zone of danger does not establish actionable negligence.
6What are the required elements of the tort of 'Battery'?1. Intentional act by the defendant. 2. Causing harmful or offensive contact (judged by an objective reasonable person standard). 3. With the plaintiff's person (including anything physically attached or closely held, like clothing, a plate, or an umbrella). 4. Absence of consent or legal privilege.
7What constitutes 'Assumption of Risk' as a tort defense?An affirmative defense barring recovery where plaintiff voluntarily encounters a known danger: (1) Express Assumption (valid exculpatory contractual release), or (2) Implied Assumption (plaintiff had actual subjective knowledge of the specific risk and voluntarily exposed themselves to it).
8What constitutes 'Intent' in intentional torts, and what is the 'Transferred Intent' doctrine?Intent requires that an actor acts with the purpose of producing a tortious consequence or knows with substantial certainty that the consequence will result. Under transferred intent, an actor's intent transfers across persons (intending to hit A but hitting B) and across the 5 classic torts (battery, assault, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattels).
9What constitutes Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations?1. Existence of a valid contract between plaintiff and a third party. 2. Defendant's knowledge of the contractual relationship. 3. Defendant's intentional and improper inducement of the third party to breach the contract. 4. Actual breach and resulting economic damage to plaintiff.
10What are the four essential elements of a 'Negligence' cause of action?1. Duty: Legal obligation to conform to a specific standard of conduct to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm. 2. Breach: Failure to conform conduct to the required standard of care. 3. Causation: Factual cause ('but-for') and legal cause (proximate cause). 4. Damages: Actual physical injury or monetary property loss.
11How is the standard of care measured in professional malpractice claims (e.g., doctors, attorneys)?Professionals must possess and exercise the knowledge, skill, and care ordinarily exercised by reputable members of the same profession in good standing in the relevant community (often established via expert testimony rather than the lay reasonable person standard).
12What is the distinction between 'Trespass to Chattels' and 'Conversion'?• Trespass to Chattels: An intentional interference with the plaintiff's personal property that causes minor dispossession, loss of use, or slight physical damage; remedy is actual damage or cost of repair. • Conversion: An intentional exercise of dominion and control that so seriously interferes with chattel ownership that it justifies a forced sale; remedy is the full fair market value of the chattel.
13What is the 'Reasonable Person Standard' of care in negligence?An objective standard measuring an actor's conduct against what a reasonably prudent person would do under similar circumstances. The standard accommodates physical disabilities (e.g., blindness), but does NOT accommodate below-average intelligence, voluntary intoxication, or mental illness.
14What are the three recognized categories of Product Defects?1. Manufacturing Defect: Product departs from its intended design specifications during fabrication, making it dangerously flawed. 2. Design Defect: Entire product line is dangerous; evaluated via consumer expectations or risk-utility test (showing a reasonable alternative design existed). 3. Inadequate Warning / Information Defect: Failure to provide adequate instructions or warn of non-obvious foreseeable risks.
15What are the required elements of the tort of 'Assault'?1. Intentional act by the defendant. 2. Causing reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff's person. 3. Defendant has the apparent present ability to carry out the contact. (Words alone without an overt threatening act are generally insufficient).
16What is the medical doctrine of 'Informed Consent' in tort law?A physician has an affirmative duty to disclose to a competent patient all material risks, potential complications, and alternative treatments that a reasonable patient would consider significant in deciding whether to undergo a proposed medical procedure.
17What is the 'Eggshell Skull Rule' (Talem Qualem) in tort damages?A tortfeasor takes their victim as they find them: defendant is liable for the full extent of physical injuries suffered by the plaintiff, even if the severe magnitude of the injury was unforeseeable due to plaintiff's pre-existing frailty or latent medical condition.
18What is the legal difference between an 'Intervening Cause' and a 'Superseding Cause'?• Intervening Cause: An event or act by a third party occurring between defendant's negligent act and plaintiff's injury; if foreseeable, it does not sever defendant's proximate liability. • Superseding Cause: An extraordinary, highly unforeseeable intervening event (e.g., act of God or intentional crime) that breaks the causal chain and relieves defendant of liability.
19What is the purpose of 'Punitive Damages' in tort law and what constitutional limit applies?Awarded above compensatory damages to punish egregious, malicious, or oppressive misconduct and deter future bad behavior. Under Due Process, punitive damages cannot be grossly excessive, generally requiring a single-digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages (State Farm v. Campbell).
20How do Contributory Negligence, Pure Comparative Fault, and Modified Comparative Fault differ?• Contributory Negligence: Any fault by plaintiff (even 1%) completely bars all recovery. • Pure Comparative Fault: Plaintiff recovers damages reduced in proportion to their percentage of fault (e.g., 90% at fault recovers 10%). • Modified Comparative Fault: Plaintiff's recovery is barred if their fault reaches 50% (under 50% bar) or exceeds 50% (51% bar).
21What standard must Public Officials and Public Figures satisfy to recover for defamation (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan)?They must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defamatory statement was made with 'Actual Malice'—meaning the defendant published the statement with subjective knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false.
22What is the doctrine of 'Joint and Several Liability' among multiple tortfeasors?Where two or more tortfeasors cause a single indivisible injury, each tortfeasor is independently liable to the plaintiff for the entire sum of damages. The plaintiff can collect the full judgment from any single defendant, who may then seek contribution from other co-tortfeasors.
23What are the four recognized common law Invasion of Privacy torts (FLIP)?1. False Light: Highly offensive public attribution of false views or character. 2. Intrusion upon Seclusion: Highly offensive intentional intrusion into private affairs. 3. Public Disclosure of Private Facts: Public dissemination of highly offensive, non-newsworthy private facts. 4. Commercial Appropriation: Unauthorized commercial use of name or likeness.
24What is the difference between 'Cause-in-Fact' and 'Proximate Cause'?• Cause-in-Fact: Factual connection evaluated under the 'but-for' test (the harm would not have occurred but for defendant's act) or 'substantial factor' test. • Proximate Cause: A policy limit on legal liability, requiring that the plaintiff and the resulting injury were within the reasonably foreseeable scope of risk created by defendant's conduct.
25What constitutes 'False Imprisonment' in tort law?An intentional act by the defendant that confines, detains, or restrains the plaintiff within a bounded area without lawful authority or reasonable means of safe escape, where the plaintiff is either conscious of the confinement or suffers actual physical harm.
26What is 'Negligence Per Se' and what two requirements must be satisfied?A doctrine adopting a criminal safety statute as the civil standard of care: violation constitutes breach of duty as a matter of law if: (1) plaintiff belongs to the class of persons the statute was enacted to protect, and (2) plaintiff's injury is the specific type of harm the statute was designed to prevent.
27When does Strict Liability apply to 'Abnormally Dangerous Activities'?Imposes liability without fault for activities that: (1) create a high risk of serious physical harm that cannot be eliminated through the exercise of reasonable care, and (2) are not a matter of common usage in the community (e.g., using explosives, storing toxic chemicals).
28What duties of care do landowners owe to Trespassers, Licensees, and Invitees under traditional premises liability?• Undiscovered Trespasser: No duty of care (cannot willfully or wantonly injure). • Licensee (social guest): Duty to warn of known, concealed dangerous conditions. • Invitee (customer/business visitor): Highest duty: duty to exercise reasonable care to inspect premises, discover hidden dangers, and make the premises safe.
29What are the elements of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)?1. Extreme and outrageous conduct exceeding all possible bounds of decency tolerated in a civilized community. 2. Intentionally or recklessly committed. 3. Causing severe emotional distress in the plaintiff (far beyond mere hurt feelings or insult).
30What is the 'Shopkeeper's Privilege' defense to false imprisonment?A statutory or common law privilege allowing a merchant to temporarily detain a person whom the merchant reasonably suspects of shoplifting, provided the detention is conducted on or near the premises, in a reasonable manner, using reasonable non-deadly force, and for a reasonable duration to investigate.
31What are the core elements of a common law 'Defamation' claim?1. Defamatory statement of fact regarding the plaintiff (tending to harm reputation). 2. Published/communicated to at least one third party who understood it. 3. Fault amounting to at least negligence on the part of the defendant. 4. Special damages (economic loss), unless Libel (written) or Slander Per Se (criminal act, loathsome disease, sexual misconduct, trade incompetence).
32What constitutes 'Trespass to Land'?An intentional physical invasion of the real property of another without consent or legal authorization. (Actual damage to the land is not required; actionable for nominal damages).