Ch. 6 Elements of Torts

substantial factor test

a standard adopted in several states in place of proximate cause; in jury may hold a defendant liable in tort if it finds that defendants conduct was a major cause of the injury in question

emotional distress

a tort action for damages to compensate a personal for mental injury suffered due to anothers actions

consent

a voluntary agreement, implied or expressed, to submit to a proposition or act of another

cause in fact (sine qua non)

an act or omission without which an event would not have occurred. courts express this in the form of a rule: the injury to a person would not have happened but for the conduct of the wrongdoer

tort

an injury or wrong committed with or without force against another person or his property; a civil wrong that is a breach of a legal duty owed by the person who commits the tort to the victim of the tort

defamation

an intentional false communicatoin, either published or publicly spoken, that injures anothers reputation or good name

slander

an oral defamation of ones reputation or good name

assault

any word or action intended to cause another to be in fear of immediate physical harm

assumption of risk

common-law doctrine under which a plaintiff may not recover for the injuries or damages that result from an activity in which the plaintiff willingly participated.

false imprisonment

false arrest; the intentional detention or restraint of an individual by another

privilege

in tort law, the ability to act contrary to anothers legal right without that party having legal redress for the consequences of that act; usually raised as a defense

proximate cause

in tort law, the action of the defendant that produces the plaintiffs injuries, without which the injury or damage in question would not have existed

invasion of privacy

in tort, the encroachment on the right of a person to their solitude, the appropriation of a persons reputation for commercial purposes, or the public disclosure of facts that the person had a legal right to keep private

res ipsa loquitur

latin for "the thing speaks for itself"; given the facts presented, itis clear that the defendents actions were negligent & were the proximate cause of the injury incurred

superseding cause

the act of a third party, or an outside force, that intervenes to prevent a defendant from being lliable for harm to another due to negligence

negligence

the failure to do something that a resonable person, guided by the ordinary considerations that regulate human affairs, would do or the doing of something that a reasonable person would not do

battery

the intentional unallowed touching of another; the "touching" may involve a mere touch that is offensive or an act of violence that causes serious injury

exculpatory clause

a part of a contract that releases one of the parties from liability for their wrongdoings; not favored at laws

strict liability

a legal theory that imposes responsibility for damages regardless of the existence of negligence; in tort law, any good sold that has a defect that causes injry leads to the imposition of liability

libel

a defamation that is in the form of a printing, a writing, pictures, or a broadcast on radio or television

comparative negligence

a defense to negligence whereby the plaintiffs damages are reduced by the proportion his fault bears to the total injury he has suffered