BUSINESS LAW & ETHICS

United States v. Jones involved a question of a GPS tracking device placed on a car that was tracked for over a month. The U.S. Supreme Court held that installing the device was:

a trespass on private property, which required a search warrant.

Written defamation is known as

libel

Contributory negligence means a defendant who is only 5 percent responsible for causing a plaintiff 's injuries will not be liable for more than 5 percent of the total damages awarded.

TRUE

Intentional torts require the plaintiff to prove actual or implied intent.

TRUE

According to the text, is an employer negligent for failing to protect an employee from being attacked by a dog, regardless of whether the dog is known to have abnormally dangerous propensities? (See the Labaj v. VanHouton case.)

An employer can be negligent for failing to protect an employee from getting attacked by a dog, even if the dog is not known to possess abnormally dangerous propensities.

Most states in the United States have adopted strict product liability whereby an injured person may recover damages by showing that a defendant was negligent.

False

The main holding in CASE 10.1, MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co. (1916), was Buick's liability without privity of contract with the buyer, MacPherson.

False

The tort of conversion requires that the defendant know that the goods belonged to the plaintiff.

False

The tort of malicious prosecution protects the right to enjoy the benefits of legally binding agreements.

False

Which of the following is the best defense to negligence?

The plaintiff contributed to the plaintiff's own injuries.

In a criminal prosecution, which of the following is true regarding evidence that the prosecution must share with the defendant?

The prosecution must share evidence that the defendant requests, and the prosecution must also share any exculpatory evidence regardless of whether the defendant requested it.

In which of the following cases would a manufacturer or seller be held liable for a user's injuries?

The user was injured while engaging in an unusual use of the product that was reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer.

In the case of a felony, many states require a preliminary hearing so the prosecutor can present probable cause that the defendant committed the crime.

True

The Federal Trade Commission takes the position that it is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act for firms to fail to honor their own privacy policies.

True

The Fifth Amendment provides extensive protection to corporations and businesses against use of records and papers

True

The Sixth Amendment's right to counsel means the accused has the right to his or her own attorney.

True

The tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress protects a person's right to peace of mind.

True

Under strict liability, a defendant can be guilty of a crime regardless of his or her state of mind.

True

__________ prohibits the testimony of the witness from being used against him in any way.

Use immunity

A __________ cuts off the right to assert a cause of action after a specified period of time from the delivery of the product or the completion of the work.

statute of repose

The number of U.S. federal criminal offenses is in the range of:

300

Perry attempted to hit Bailey without good cause; but Bailey ducked, and Perry hit Adrian instead. Adrian had been looking the other way and did not see it coming and was shocked when the blow landed. Which of the following is true regarding the cause of action, if any, Adrian would have against Perry?

Based on the theory of transferred intent, Adrian would have a cause of action against Perry for battery.

_________ is the publication of statements derogatory to the quality of the plaintiff's business, to the business in general, or to the plaintiff's personal affairs in order to discourage others from dealing with him or her.

Disparagement

Under federal law, manufacturers and sellers may be held strictly liable for a defective product but only if negligence can be shown.

False

A sales representative who accepts a kickback from a purchaser of his or her employer's products is not guilty of a crime based on the good faith exception.

False

The assumption of risk doctrine makes the manufacturer liable for a resulting injury.

False

A __________ is any crime that is punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year.

Felony

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that in order for a public official or public figure to recover damages for defamation by a media defendant, there must be a showing of

actual malice

To satisfy the burden of proof for most civil cases, the plaintiff needs to establish the facts:

by a higher standard of proof, given the formidable resources of the state.

Although disclaimers of liability are generally ineffective, parties in the chain of distribution should enter into contracts that _____ for defects caused by other members of the distribution chain.

give them the right to indemnity

A __________ defect occurs when, even though the product is manufactured according to specifications, it is unreasonably dangerous to users.

design

If the societal value of an inherently dangerous product outweighs the risk of harm from its use, it is known as a(n) __________ product.

unavoidably unsafe

In 1963, the state of __________ became the first state to adopt the __________ theory, after the state supreme court decided the Greenman v. Yuba Power Products case.

California; strict product liability

_____ occurs when an individual exercises dominion and control over the personal property, rather than the real property, of another.

Conversion

All but three states have enacted some type of medical tort reform, which generally caps the amount of noneconomic damages an injured plaintiff can recover in a lawsuit.

False

In CASE 9.1 Kubert v. Best (2013), the court ruled that an individual who is texting from a location remote from the driver of a car can be held liable for persons injured because the driver was distracted by the text message.

False

What does the term respondeat superior mean?

Let the master answer

Bertie, a truck driver, is told by the boss, Percy, to quickly deliver a load of steel and to get to the location within an hour. Bertie replied, "That's impossible—I'd have to go 90 miles per hour to do that." Percy said, "Well, you'd best get started." Not surprisingly, Bertie was stopped by a highway patrol officer and fined for both speeding and reckless driving. At court, Bertie told the judge that the ruling should be "not guilty" because Bertie was only acting upon orders of Bertie's boss. Is this reasoning correct?

No.

Paul suspects that his girlfriend Jen, who does a significant amount of photography on a freelance basis from her home, is cheating on her income taxes. One day he and Jen have a big argument, and she tells him to get lost. The next weekend, while Jen is away from her house, Paul uses his spare key to her house and goes in to her home office. He goes through the records she keeps of her receipts and checks, as well as copies of her income tax filings. Just as he suspected, Jen was taking significant cash payments without paying tax. He took the incriminating records to the Internal Revenue Service. Jen was later arrested for income tax evasion. She tells her lawyer that she wants to defend on the basis that Paul violated her Fourth Amendment rights by conducting an illegal search. Which of the following is true regarding her claim?

She is incorrect in asserting that her Fourth Amendment rights were violated by Paul's actions.

Which of the following is NOT true regarding product liability in the European Union according to the European Union product liability directive?

The directive applies to services as well as products.

A design defect may result from the manufacturer's choice of the product's materials.

True

A misdemeanor is a crime punishable by a fine or a jail sentence of one year or less.

True

A statute of repose cuts off the right to assert a product liability action.

True

An arrest is considered a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.

True

For a defendant to be held strictly liable, the plaintiff must prove that the defect existed at the time the product left the defendant.

True

In Riley v. California, the defendant, while in custody after an arrest, received phone calls from a number identified as "my house." The police inspected the information on defendant's phone and ascertained his address, secured a warrant, and recovered contraband which was introduced in the case against the defendant. The main issue on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court was whether police may search the contents of an arrestee's cell phone without a search warrant.

True

If a product valuable to society is unavoidably unsafe, the __________ determines whether the dangerous product is also defective.

adequacy of the warning label