Vocabulary Torts

res ipsa loquitur.

Latin for - "The thing speaks for itself"- the doctrine that suggests negligence can be presumed if an event happens that would not ordinarily happen unless someone was negligent is called

proximate cause

Once actual cause is found, the requirement of _________ means that the court must also make a policy decision as to whether the negligent act and the harm were so foreseeably related as to justify a finding of liability.

slander

Spoken defamation is known as

appropriation

is an intentional unauthorized exploitive use of another person's personality, name, or picture for the defendant's benefit.

strict liability

is liability without having to prove fault.

loss of consortium

A __________ claim represents the loss by one spouse of the other spouse's companionship, services, or affection.

transferred intent

If a person directs a tortious act towards A but instead harms B, the intent to act against A is transferred to B; this is the legal fiction known as

malice

Making a defamatory remark, either knowing the material was false or acting with a "reckless disregard" for whether or not it was true, is known as acting with

defamation per se

Remarks that are considered to be so harmful that they are automatically viewed as defamatory are known as

products liability

The theory holding manufacturers and sellers liable for defective products when the defect makes the product unreasonably dangerous is known as

invasion of privacy

The tort of ________ is an intentional tort that covers a variety of situations, including disclosure, intrusion, appropriation, and false light.

actual cause

is also known as cause in fact and is measured by the "but for" standard.

contributory negligence

is negligence by the plaintiff that contributed to the plaintiff's injury.

disclosure

is the intentional publication of embarrassing private affairs.

intrusion

is the intentional unjustified encroachment into another person's private activities.

defamation

is the publication of false statements that harm a person's reputation.

false imprisonment

occurs whenever one person, through force or the threat of force, unlawfully detains another person against his or her will.

false light

The intentional false portrayal of someone in a way that would be offensive to a reasonable person constitutes the tort of

assumption of the risk

Voluntarily and knowingly subjecting oneself to danger is known as

libel

Written defamation is known as

ultrahazardous activities

are those activities that have an inherent risk of injury and therefore may result in strict liability.

battery

An intentional act that creates a harmful or offensive physical contact is known as a

assault

An intentional act that creates a reasonable apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive physical contact is known as an

product misuse

The defense to a products liability claim that states the product was not being used for its intended purpose or in a dangerous manner, is known as

comparative negligence

provides a method for measuring the relative negligence of the plaintiff and the defendant with a commensurate sharing of the compensation for the injuries.