Business Law Chapter 6

4 types of declarations are considered to be slander per say

1. A statement that another has a particular type of disease (such as STD or mental illness.) 2. A statement that another has committed improperties while engaging in a profession or trade. 3. A statement that another has committed or has been imprisoned for a serious crime. 4. A statement that a person (usually only unmarried persons and sometimes only women) is unchaste or as engaged in serious sexual misconduct.

To succeed in a negligence action, the plaintiff must prove what?

1. Duty. The defendant owed a duty of care. 2. Breach. The defendant breached that duty. 3. Causation. The defendant's breach caused the plaintiff's injury. 4. Damages. The plaintiff suffered a legally recognizable injury.

What are the two questions the court must address in deciding whether the requirement of causation is met?

1. Is there causation in fact? 2. Was the act the proximate, or legal, cause of the injury?

fraudulent misrepresentation includes what elements?

1. a misrepresentation of material facts or conditions with knowledge that they are false or with reckless disregard fo the truth. 2. an intent to induce another party to rely on teh misrepresentation 3. A justifiable reliance on the misrepresntation by the deceived party 4. Damages suffered as a result of that relince 5. A causal connection between the misrepresentation and the injury suffered.

Three elements are necessary for wrongful interference with a contractual relationship to occur. What are they?

1. a valid, enforceable contract must exist between two parties. 2. a third party must know that this contract exists 3. this third party must intentionally induce ap arty to the contract to breach the contract.

what four acts qualify as an invasion of privacy under the common law?

1. intrusion into an individual's affairs or seclusion. 2. false light 3. public disclosure of private facts. 4. appropriation of identity

Types of tort reform--how companies limit you to go to the courthouse.

1. limiting the amount of both punitive damages and general damages that can be awarded 2. Capping the amount that attorneys can collect in contingency fees 3. requiring the losing party to pay both the plaintiff's and the defendant's expenses.

What must a plaintiff normally prove to establish defamation?

1. the defendant made a false statement of fact. 2. The statement was understood as being about the plaintiff and tended to harm the plaintiff's reputation. 3. The statement was published to at least one person other than the plaintiff. 4. If the plaintiff is a public figure, she or he must prove actual notice.

privileged communications are of two types.

1. the statements made by attorney's and judges in the courtroom during a trial are absolutely privileged, as are statements made by government officials during legislative debate.

will a person be liable for the tort of wrongful interference with a contractual or business relationship?

NO, but only if it can be shown that the interference was justified, or permissible

Duty of care

The basic principle underlying the duty of care is that people are free to act as they please so long as their actions do not infringe on the interests of others.

trespass to personal property

Whenever an individual wrongfully takes or harms the personal property of another or otherwise interferes with the lawful owner's possession and enjoyment of personal property.

class action

a lawsuit in which a large number of plaintiffs bring the suit as a group.

compensatory damages

a plaintiff is awarded this to compensate or reimburse the plaintiff for actual losses. The goal is to make the plaintiff whole and put her or him in the same position that she or he would have been in had the tort not occurred. Actual loss, medical bills, lost money.

assumption of risk

a plaintiff who voluntarily enters into a risky situation, knowing the risk involved, will not be allowed to recover. This defense requires 1. knowledge of the risk. 2. voluntary assumption of the risk.

contributory negligence

a plaintiff who was negligent could not recover anything from the defendant.

actual malice

a statement must be made with either knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard of the truth.

predatory behavior

actions undertaken with the intention of unlawfully driving competitors completely out of the market.

gross negligence

an intentional failure to perform a manifest duty in reckless disregard of the consequences of such a failure for the life or property of another.

battery

an unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed. The contact can be harmful, or it can be merely offensive (such as an unwanted kiss.) Physical injury need not occur.

conversion

any act that deprives an owner of personal property or of the use of that property without the owner's permission and without just cause.

assault

any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact- words or acts that create a reasonably believable threat.

What are the three basic affirmative defenses in negligence cases?

assumption of risk superseding cause contributory negligence comparative negligence

competitive practice

attempting to attract customers in general is a legitimate business practce

contingency fees

attorneys' fees that are based on a percentage of the damages awarded to the client.

abuse of process

can apply to any person using a legal process against another in na important manner or to accomplish a purpose for which the process was not designed.

actionable

capable of serving as the ground for a lawsuit.

General damages

compensate individuals (not companies) for the non monetary aspects of the harm suffered, such as pain and suffering. A court might award general damages for physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, or loss of impairment of mental or physical capacity.

Special damages

compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable monetary loses. Such losses might include medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, extra costs, the loss of irreplaceable items, and the costs of repairing or replacing damaged property.

persona property

consists of all other items, including cash and securities (stocks, bonds, and other ownership interests in companies.)

libel

defamation in wringing or other permanent form.

slander

defamation orally

tort law

designed to compensate those who have suffered a loss or injury due to another person's wrongful act. One person or group brings a lawsuit against another person or group to obtain compensation (monetary damages) or other relief for the harm suffered.

tort reform

enables injured parties to obtain compensation.

malpractice

essentially professional negligence.

business torts

generally involve wrongful interference with another's business rights.

publication requirement

holds an individual up to contempt, ridicule, or hatred. Means that the defamatory statements are communicated to persons other than the defamed party.

What does the classification of a particular tort depend on?

how the tort occurs: intentionally or negligently and the surrounding circumstances.

causation

if a person breaches a duty of care and someone suffers injury, the person's act must have caused the harm for it to constitute the tort of negligence.

causation in fact

if the injury would not have of occurred without the defendant's act. Is limitless.

privilege

immunity.

intentional tort

implies, requires intent

negligence per se

in or of itself. May occur if an individual violates a statute or an ordinance providing for a criminal penalty and that violation causes another to be injured.

Two broad classifications of torts

intentional torts, unintentional torts

intrusion into an individual's affairs or seclusion

invading someone's home or searching someone's briefcase or laptop without authorization is an invasion of privacy.

product liability

involve the manufacture, sale, and distribution of dangerous and defective goods.

intentional infliction of emotional distress

involves an intentional act that amounts to extreme and outrageous conduct resulting in severe emotional distress to another.

fraudulent misrepresentation

involves intentional deceit for personal gain.

Defamation

involves wrongfull hurting a person's good reputation.

real property

land and things permanently attached to the land, such as a house.

proximate casue

legal cause, exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify imposing liability. Asks whether the injuries sustained were foreseeable or were too remotely connected to the incident to trigger liability. Judges use this to limit the scope of the defendant's liability to a subset of the total number of potential plaintiffs that might have been harmed by the defendant's actions.

forum shopping

looking for a state court known to be sympathetic to their clients' cause.

comparative negligence

most widely used defense in negligence

statement of opinion

normally are not actionable because they are protected under the First Amendment.

trespass to land

occurs when a person, without permission, does any of the following 1. enters onto, above, or below the surface of land that is owned by another. 2. causes anything to enter onto land owned by another 3. remains on land owned by another or permits anything to remain on it.

disparagement of property

occurs when economically injurious falsehoods are made about another's product or property rather than about another's reputation. a general term for torts that can be more specifically referred to as slander of quality or slander of title.

negligence

occurs when someone suffers injury because of another's failure to live up to a required duty of care.

license

one who is invited or allowed to enter onto the property of another for the licensee's benefit. Example: one who enters another's property to read an electric meter.

intent

only that the person intended the consequences of his or her act or knew with substantial certainty that specific consequences would result from the act.

damages for slander

plaintiff must prove special damages to establish the defendant's liability. The plaintiff must show that the slanderous statement caused her or him to suffer actual economic or monetary losses.

public figures

politicians, entertainers, professional athletes, and others in the public eye are considered__________________

damages for libel

presumed as a matter of law. Designed to compesate the plaintiff for nonspecific harms such as disgrace or dishonor in the eyes of the community, humiliation, injured reputation, and emotional distress- harms that are difficult to measure.

false light

publication of information that places a person in a false light is also an inasion of privacy.

punitive damages

punish the wrongdoer and deter others from similar wrongdoing. Are appropriate only when the defendant's conduct was particularly egregious. These are usually available in intentional tort actions and only rarely in negligence lawsuits.

superseding cause

relieves the defendant of liability for injuries caused by the intervening event.

comparative negligence

replaces contributory negligence. both the plaintiff's and the defendant's negligence are computed, and the liability for damages is distributed accordingly.

intentional torts

result form the intentional violation of person or property.

Negligent torts

results from the breach of a duty to act reasonably

puffery

seller's talk, must be involved.

1st defense against trespassing

show that the trespass was warranted- such as when a trespasser enters a building to assist someone in danger

state reforms

some states have place caps ranging from 250,000$-750,000$ on non economic general damages, especially in medical malpractice suits.

What compensatory damages awards are often broken down into

special damages and general damages

false imprisonment

the intentional confinement or restraint of another person's activities without justification. Interferes with the freedom to move without restraint. Detain individuals without reason

tortfeasor

the one committing the tory must intend to commit an act, the consequences of which interfere with another's personal or business interests in a way not permitted by law.

slander of quality

the publication of false information about another's product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims.

public disclosure of private facts

this type of invasion of privacy occurs when a person publicly discloses private facts about an individual that an ordinary person would find objectionable or embarrassing.

business invitees

those people, such as customers or clients, who are invited onto business premises by the owner of those premises for business purposes.

trade libel

to establish this the plaintiff must prove that the improper publication caused a third person to refrain from dealing with the plaintiff and that the plaintiff sustained economic damages as a result.

purpose of tort law

to provide remedies for the violation of various protected interests. Provides remedies for acts that cause physical injury or that interfere with physical security and freedom of movement.

reasonable person standard

tort law measures duty by this. In determining whether a duty of care has been breached, the courts ask how a reasonable person would have acted in teh same circumstances.

unintentional torts

torts involving negligence

intentional torts against property

trespass to land, trespass to personal property, conversion, and disparagement of property. wrongful actions that interfere with individuals' legally recognized rights with regard to their land or personal property.

2nd defense against trespassing

trespasser can show that she or he had a license to come onto the land

tort

two notions serve as the basis: wrongs and compensation.

Good Samaritan Statutes

under these someone who is aided voluntarily by another cannot turn around and sue the "good Samaritan" for negligence. These laws were passed largely to protect physicians and medical personnel who volunteer their services in emergency situations to those in need, such as individuals hurt in car accidents.

dram shop acts

under which a bar's owner or bartender may be held liable for injuries caused by a person who became intoxicated while drinking at the bar. The owner or bartender may also be held responsible for continuing to serve a person who was already intoxicated.

appropriation of identity

using a person's name, picture, likeness, or other identifiable characteristic for commercial purposes without permission is also an invasion of privacy.

transferred intent

when a defendant intends to harm one individual, but unintentionally harms a second person.

slander of title

when a publication falsely denies or casts doubt on another's legal ownership of property, resulting in financial loss to the property's owner. usually intentional.