Chapter 9 - SB

A case of negligence was decided by a jury where the jury found that the defendant was 30% at fault for the plaintiff's injuries. In a pure comparative negligence jurisdiction, the plaintiff will recover: _______.

30% of the damages

_______ laws hold that people in peril, who receive voluntary aid from others, cannot hold those offering aid liable for negligence.

Good Samaritan

Courts consider the following factors in attempting to determine whether a reasonable person would have owed a duty to others: ______. (Check ALL that apply)

How likely was it that the harm would occur? How serious was the harm? What costs would have been necessary to reduce the risk of harm?

Which of the following defines the danger invites rescue doctrine?

If a bystander gets injured while trying to save a victim from danger caused by the offender, then the offender isheld responsible for the bystander's injuries as well.

Mary was driving her new moped down a neighborhood road. While she was trying to adjust her headphones to listen to her favorite song, her moped hit an 8-year-old boy who was crossing the road. Mary dismounted her moped and rushed over to the victim. The young child was unconscious and bleeding. In this scenario, Mary owes what duty, if any, to the victim?

Mary has a duty to remove the victim from further harm.

Jeff sues Kathy for $10,000 for injury to his property. Kathy is able to establish that Jeff was 45% for the damage to his property. In this example, should Jeff receive $5,500 in damages, which of the following theories of recovery was applied?

Modified comparative negligence

The reasonable person standard is a measurement of the way members of society should act in a given situation. The two things that are used to determine a defendant's duty of care is the degree of care and ______ that a reasonable person would exercise under similar circumstances.

skill

All but which of the following is a requirement for a plaintiff to establish that a defendant is strictly liable?

The act involved cannot occur without a superseding cause.

Nancy had some surgery on her lungs. After the surgery, she had great discomfort in her chest and trouble breathing. She went back to her doctor who took some x-rays of her chest. The x-ray showed that a surgical instrument had been left in her chest. Nancy can sue her surgeon on the doctrine of: _______.

res ipsa loquitur

Norm was sitting in a bar for approximately 4 hours, drinking heavily. The bartender at the bar kept serving alcohol to an obviously intoxicated Norm. Norm got into his car and crashed into another car, injuring the driver and the passengers. The driver and passengers sued the bar owner and were successful due to a state statute which holds bar owners liable for injuries resulting from an intoxicated patron of the bar. Such a statute is known as

a dram shop act

A state law requires that attorneys must treat their clients' payments by placing them in a separate client account and sending the clients a report of their accounts. These legal requirements are regarded as: _______.

a duty of care

The standard that is a measurement of the way members of society expect an individual to act in a given situation is known as: _______.

a reasonable person standard

______ cause is also known as cause in fact.

actual

When someone is harmed by an incident that simply could not be avoided, even with reasonable care, this is known as: _______.

an unfortunate accident

A grocery store had just had one of its employees mop up some spilled milk. The floor was wet, and the employee put several cones around the wet floor with a tape surrounding the perimeter of the wet floor. There were several signs specifically warning customers that the floor was wet and slippery. One irate customer stepped over the tape and entered the zone that was taped off. Sure enough, he slipped and fell to the floor, suffering a broken arm. The customer sued the store for negligence. The best defense for the store is: _______.

assumption of the risk

The defendant must prove that the plaintiff voluntarily and unreasonably encountered the threat of the actual harm the defendant caused under the _______ defense.

assumption of the risk

Dr. Pierce failed to scrub his hands before entering the surgical suite. If his patient gets an infection, then Dr. Pierce has ______ his duty of care.

breached

In a cause of action for negligence, the plaintiff must establish the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. Next, the plaintiff must show that the defendant _______.

breached that duty of care.

If a defendant's breach of duty is the actual cause of a plaintiff's injury, this is known as

cause in fact

A pure ______ negligence defense involves a court determining the _______ fault of the defendant.

comparative percentage of

A plaintiff can sue for ______ to help compensate for losses that result from the defendant's negligence.

damages

In order to recover ______ in a negligence action, the plaintiff must prove he or she sustained ________ injuries as a result of the defendant's actions. (Choose TWO correct answers)

damages compensable

If any bystanders are injured while attempting to rescue victims injured by the defendant's negligence, many courts hold the defendant liable for their injuries under what is known as the ______ doctrine.

danger invites rescue

To establish proximate cause in a negligence claim, it is necessary to prove that the

defendant could reasonably foresee that his or her actions would cause the harm that the plaintiff suffered.

The pilot of a plane had been drinking before he reported for duty at a major commercial airline. He was still intoxicated during the time he flew a plane full of passengers in bad weather. As a result of his intoxication, he failed to notice a warning light on the control panel and the plane had to make a violent emergency landing. The failure of the pilot to fly the plane sober is a breach of : ______.

duty

The element of negligence that best describes the relationship between a parent and a minor child is known as: _______.

duty of care

True or false: Molly is a waitress at the local diner. She is carrying a heavy tray full of very hot food. While she is carrying the tray, she suffers a heart attack and drops the tray burning a customer as she falls. Molly's actions are an example of negligence.

false - it is an unfortunate accident

The four questions a court considers to determine whether a reasonable person would have owed a duty to others includes all of the following except -what costs would have been necessary to reduce the risk of harm? -how likely was it that the harm would occur? -how socially beneficial was the defendant's conduct that posed the risk of harm? -how intentional was the harm?

how intentional was the harm?

A plaintiff has filed a negligence claim in a contributory negligence jurisdiction. The court ruled that the plaintiff did contribute to his or her own injuries. The doctrine that would still allow the plaintiff to recover damages is known as the ______ doctrine.

last-clear-chance

States have adopted _______ doctrine which allows the plaintiff to recover damages despite proof of ______ negligence.

last-clear-chance contributory

Suppose a SonicAir, Inc airplane crashes into the Potomac River due to the negligence of the airline. Some bystanders who observed the crash jump into the water to rescue crash survivors. If any of the bystanders are injured while attempting to rescue the survivors, many courts will hold SonicAir ______ for their injuries under what is known as the: _______.

liable danger invites rescue

______ is the term for negligence by a(n) ______ who ignored the generally accepted principles in his or her field of expertise.

malpractice professional

Barbara promised Amy to look after her dog while she was on vacation. That night, Barbara forgot to close the gate to the dog's yard. The dog escaped and never came back. Barbara's failure to close the gate is an example of: _______.

negligence

Mark owned a deli where he served sandwiches and soups to his customers. The local health codes required Mark to completely clean and sterilize his grill on a daily basis. Mark was too lazy to do this and the result was that the bacteria on the grill contaminated the meat and several customers got sick. The type of negligence that this represents is: _______.

negligence per se

The doctrine of _______ applies to cases in which the defendant has violated a statute enacted to prevent a certain type of harm from befalling a specific group to which the plaintiff belongs.

negligence per se

______ is proven when a defendant's violation caused a plaintiff to suffer from a type of harm that a statute or regulation was created to prevent.

negligence per se

Abigail was suing Gregory for injuries she sustained when Gregory negligently ignored the stop signal and ran into Abigail with his car. In his defense, Gregory pointed out that Abigail ignored the "don't walk" sign and crossed the street. If Gregory can show Abigail was 10% at fault for her own injuries in a contributory jurisdiction, then Abigail would: _______.

not be able to collect any damages

Philip was driving his car and failed to see a stop sign. He hit a car driven by Oscar. Oscar was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash, and thus sustained more serious injuries than he would have had if he had been wearing his seatbelt. The court found that both parties were negligent. If this was a contributory negligence jurisdiction, then Oscar would be able to recover: _______.

nothing

Darcy sued Tony for negligence in a modified comparative negligence jurisdiction. A judge ruled that Darcy was 55% at fault for her own injuries. Darcy will be able to recover: ______.

nothing (not 45% because modified requires at least 50%)

The doctrines of res ipsa loquitur and negligence per se have been adopted by courts to primarily aid the _______ in negligence suits.

paintiff

Res ipsa loquitor and negligence per se are designed to help plaintiffs sue for negligence when there are no witnesses to the conduct or where evidence of the negligence is destroyed. These types of negligence are known as: _______.

plaintiff's doctrines

John was texting on his phone, while driving down the highway. Because he was not paying attention to his driving, he veered out of his lane and crashed into the car in the adjacent lane. The driver of the second car was pushed into a third car. All of the drivers suffered injuries. The driver of the third car sued John for damages. The reason why the court will find in favor of the third driver is because John was the ______ cause of the third driver's injuries.

proximate

Causation is the third element of a successful negligence claim and is made up of two separate elements: actual cause and: _______.

proximate cause

The Palsgraff v Long Island RR Co case is one of the most well-known cases addressing the issue of ________.

proximate cause

In situations where a defendant is proved to have committed gross negligence, _______ damages may be awarded to the plaintiff which are not typically awarded in negligence cases.

punitive

The standard of care that a(n) ________ person owes another is called a(n) ______.

reasonable duty

Ian, a door-to-door salesman, filed a negligence case against Mark. While ringing the doorbell on Mark's front porch, he was bitten by a venomous snake that Mark kept as a pet. Ian had no previous warning of the snake being loose. In this scenario, Ian is most likely to have filed for damages under

strict liability

A _______ is best described as an unforeseeable event that interrupts the causal chain between the defendant's breach of duty and the damages the plaintiff suffered.

superseding cause

Tom was in charge of the demolition of a large high-rise building. The blasting was to take place the next day and in preparation for the blast, Tom had moved all of the explosives to the site. The explosives were stored under lock and key in a trailer used by the demolition crew. That night there was a horrible storm and a bolt of lightening struck the trailer, setting off the explosives. The trailer was blown up and shards of the trailer were sent flying for miles. One of the shards struck a pedestrian five blocks from the blast causing some serious lacerations. The pedestrian sued the demolition company for negligence. The best defense of the demolition company is: _______.

superseding cause

A hunter carelessly shoots in the general direction of a sound in the woods. Instead of a deer, the hunter has shot his friend. The hunter's gunfire: _______.

was the causation of the friend's injury