Bus Law Chapter 9
The year is 2020. The state is California. Plaintiff and defendant have been involved in a car accident for which each is partly responsible. Plaintiff's total damages are $1 million. Plaintiff is 60% responsible for her own injury. Plaintiff will receive compensatory damages of:
$400,000
What are the four things a plaintiff must prove to win a lawsuit under the theory of negligence per se?
1. Defendant violated a statue that sets a minimum standard of care for a particular activity in order to protect a certain group of people 2. The plantiff suffered actual harm and the defendant's illegal acts were a factual cause of that harm 3.The harm suffered by the plantiff was among the types of harm the statue was intended to prevent 4. The plantiff was a member of the class of persons the statue was intended to prevent
What are the five required elements of the tort of negligence?
1. Duty of due care 2. Breach 3.Factual cause 4. Proximate cause 5. Damages
When no special relationship is present, what is the two-part test for duty of due care?
1. did the defendant enage in an action 2. could the defendant have reasonably foreseen injury to someone like the plantiff sa a result of this action
In a comparative negligence state, a plaintiff who is 30% responsible for her own injury will receive an award of money damages equal to _____ of her damages.
70%
The earliest known appearance of the doctrine of contributory negligence is:
Butterfield v. Forrester (King's Bench, 1809).
If a defendant behaves in the way a reasonable person with similar training would have under similar circumstances and injury results, then it is likely that they ________ breached their duty to the plaintiff.
have not
Which of the following terms and expressions means "a person who has a right to enter another's property because it is a public place or a business open to the public"?
invitee
Landowners' highest duty is to:
invitees
Which of the following terms and expressions means "a person on another's land for her own purposes but with the owner's permission"?
licensee
For the purposes of determining a landowner's duties, a social guest is treated as a type of:
licensee.
Jenny asked a neighbor, Tom, to water her flowers while she was on vacation. For three days, Tom did this without incident; but on the fourth day, when he touched the outside faucet, he received a violent electric shock that seriously burned him. Tom sued, claiming that Jenny had caused his injuries by negligently repairing a second-floor toilet. Water from the steady leak had flooded through the walls, soaking wires, and eventually causing the faucet to become electrified. Under these facts, Jenny would be found ______ for Tom's injuries.
not liable
A foreseeable type of harm is, by definition, a __________ cause of the injury.
proximate
In a __________ comparative negligence state like California, a plaintiff who is 99% responsible for her own injury will receive compensatory damages equal to 1% of her total damages.
pure
Which of the following terms and expressions means "a legal doctrine which allows a court to assume, under certain conditions, that a duty was owed by the defendant, breached by the defendant, and was a foreseeable cause of the plaintiff's harm"?
res ipsa loquitur
In the case of Resnick v. AvMed, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit __________ the trial court's decision for the defendant.
reversed and remanded
Which of the following terms and expressions means "The imposition of tort liability on a party without any need for the plaintiff to prove duty, breach of duty, or proximate cause. The claimant need only prove that harm occurred, and that the defendant's activities were the factual cause of that harm."?
strict liability
Res ipsa loquitur is Latin for:
the thing speaks for itself.
Which of the following terms and expressions means "a person on another's property without consent"?
trespasser
Landowners' lowest duty is to:
trespassing adults.
If a landowner has a wooden dock extending out onto a lake that he doesn't use anymore because the boards are rotten and unsafe, and throws a birthday party on his property to which he invites fifty guests, and doesn't place a warning sign at the entrance to the dock nor rope- or board- off the entrance to the dock, and someone ventures onto the dock and hurts themselves, he __________ be liable for their injuries.
will
If a landowner is irritated at their neighbor for repeated trespassing, and so rigs a booby trap which the neighbor triggers while trespassing, producing injury, they __________ for the neighbor's injuries.
will be liable
If a landowner has a wooden dock extending out onto a lake that he doesn't use anymore because the boards are rotten and unsafe, and throws a birthday party on his property to which he invites fifty guests, and does place a warning sign at the entrance to the dock plus ropes-off the entrance to the dock, and someone ventures onto the dock and hurts themselves, he __________ be liable for their injuries.
will not
If you trespass in a construction zone and are injured, you probably __________ be able to recover for your injuries.
will not
In the 1863 case of Byrne v. Boadle, the court ruled that Mr. Boadle __________ have to pay for Mr. Byrne's injuries.
would
A plaintiff who claims they were injured by their use of a product can argue any of these: [Select all that apply.]
Defective product (a tort theory imposing strict liability on the manufacturer) Negligence (a tort theory requiring proof of duty owed and duty breached) Breach of warranty (a type of breach of contract lawsuit, since the warranty terms are among the contract terms the seller has agreed to)
Examples of ultrahazardous activities include: [Select all that apply.]
The transportation of flammable or explosive chemicals. Keeping wild animals, such as wolves, lions, or snakes. Blasting (The use of dynamite in construction.) The manufacturing or storage of flammable, explosive, or poisonous chemicals.
A landowner has a duty of reasonable care for the safety of all invitees.
True
A landowner is usually liable to invitees for failure to make a reasonable effort to protect, even for dangers the owner knows nothing about.
True
A wrongful death lawsuit is a kind of negligence lawsuit.
True
If you store toxic chemicals as part of your business, and a fire causes those chemicals to be released into the atmosphere, causing injury, you or your company will have to pay for the injuries no matter how the fire started, or by whom.
True
If you use a firearm, you have a duty under the common law of negligence to be reasonably careful not to hurt anyone.
True
In the case of Hernandez v. Arizona Board of Regents Arizona Supreme Court (1994), the Arizona Supreme Court reversed and remanded the trial court's granting of summary judgment for the defendants.
True
In the case of Hernandez v. Arizona Board of Regents Arizona Supreme Court (1994), the trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants.
True
In the context of understanding when professionals have special duties to their clients, when we say professionals we generally mean persons in professions for which a license is needed to legally practice, such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, electricians, and airline pilots.
True
Part of the Arizona Supreme Court's reasoning for reversing and remanding the trial court's granting of summary judgment for the defendants in the case of Hermandez v. Arizona (1994) was that this is a negligence per se case.
True
Some persons have special duties to others. Examples include businesses, parents, and teachers. Under some circumstances, inaction by these persons will make them liable for negligence.
True
Sometimes a warning is considered sufficient effort on the part of the landowner to protect invitees, such as posting a warning that a beach has frequent riptides, but business owners usually have a duty to do more than just warn.
True
The most common test for whether the defendant breached his duty in a negligence lawsuit is "Did the defendant behave in the way a reasonable person (with similar training) would have under similar circumstances?"
True
Virtually all persons are legally required to be careful when they engage in an action that could foreseeably hurt another.
True
While at work, professionals must act as a reasonable person in their profession would under similar circumstances; otherwise, they could be liable for negligence.
True
an example of a situation in which a warning is not considered sufficient protection for invitees is when there is a liquid spill on a linoleum floor inside a coffee shop or grocery store.
True
Which case we learned in chapter 9 was based on the following facts? Two watercraft, each carrying a driver and a passenger, collided on Coyote Lake. Rachel Truong, one of the passengers, was killed. Her parents sued the three survivors for negligence.
Truong v. Nguyen (California Court of Appeals, 2007)
Which of the following are among the classes of business activity that incur strict liability under tort law? [Select all that apply.]
Ultrahazardous activities The manufacture and sale of defective products.
The use of dynamite in construction is called:
blasting.
Breach of warranty can be further broken down into two things. What are those two things?
breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranty
The law says doctors must be reasonably careful when they practice their profession, and must demonstrate competence in that profession, __________ the guarantors of their patients' lives.
but are not
When a legislature sets a minimum standard of care for a particular activity, in order to protect a certain group of people, and a violation of the statute injures a member of that group, the defendant has:
committed negligence per se.
California was a __________ state from about 1850 until 1975, but is not any longer.
contributory negligence
The assumption of the risk doctrine bars recovery for gross negligence and intentional torts as well as ordinary negligence.
False
The moment the California Supreme Court announced its decision in Li v. Yellow Cab (1975), California went from being a comparative negligence state to being a contributory negligence state.
False
__________ doctrine states that if a plaintiff is even slightly negligent in exposing herself to danger, she shall recover nothing for the negligence of the defendant.
Contributory negligence
Virtually all persons will be found liable for negligence if a person in their presence needs help and they fail to act to protect that person.
False
If a patient dies on the operating table in an emergency room, and the physician followed normal medical procedures at every step of the way and acted with reasonable speed, the physician will still be found liable for negligence even though he did everything reasonably possible to save him, because doctor's are held to a very high standard.
False
If you see a baby carriage rolling toward a cliff with a baby in it, you have a duty under the common law of negligence to put your hand out and stop the carriage from rolling over the cliff, regardless of who the baby carriage belongs to.
False
In the case of Hernandez v. Arizona Board of Regents Arizona Supreme Court (1994), the intermediate court of appeals reversed and remanded the trial court's granting of summary judgment for the defendants.
False
Landowners owe a duty to warn licensees of hidden dangers that the owner knows nothing about.
False
Landowners owe a duty to warn licensees of obvious dangers.
False
Who won the case of Daniell v. Ford, the summary for which is found on page 232 of chapter 9?
Ford (Motor Company)
A man who had just robbed a bank got into Fred's taxi, pointed a gun at Fred, and ordered Fred to get away as quickly as possible. Fred sped several blocks, passing through two red lights, then was forced to stop by stopped traffic ahead. While the robber was distracted looking out the back window, Fred snuck out of his taxi, but he forgot to put the taxi in "Park" and set the parking brake. The taxi inched forward at 4-5 miles per hour and hit a woman and her two children in a crosswalk. The woman sued Fred for negligence. Under these facts:
Fred is not liable for negligence.
Which of the following are among the things a business owner of a retail store would have to do to avoid liability for a slip and fall injury if there is a liquid spill on a linoleum floor in their store? [Select all that apply.]
Inspect the store frequently enough to discover all liquid spills within a reasonable time. Clean up each spill within a reasonable time after discovery. Place a warning sign within a reasonable time after each spill is discovered.
__________ is the unintentional tort.
Negligence
In the case of Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad (1928), were the railroad employees' actions a proximate cause of Ms. Palsgraf's injuries, according the the Court of Appeals of New York?
No
The formula for plaintiff's recovery in a pure comparative negligence state is:
Plaintiff's total damages X defendant's percentage responsibility
The assumption of risk doctrine states that:
a person who voluntarily enters a situation that has an obvious danger cannot complain if she is injured.
A defendant engaging in an ultrahazardous activity is __________ liable for any harm that results.
almost always
The law says a reasonable doctor __________ checks current medications before prescribing additional ones, no matter what the patient's age.
always
In the case of Cole v. Quirk (Massachusetts Appellate Division, 2001), the trial court granted a motion for summary judgment for the defense:
and the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed that decision.
A spectator at a baseball game who is hit by a foul ball cannot sue the player, the team, or the owner of the ballpark for her injury because of the doctrine of:
assumption of (the) risk.
If you trespass in a construction zone and are injured, the court will likely apply the doctrine of __________ to your case.
assumption of risk
Which of the following terms and expressions means "products that are made or sold in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the consumer or his property"?
defective products
If the injury would not have occurred in the absence of the defendant's breach of duty, then the defendant's breach is said to have been the __________ of the plaintiff's injury.
factual cause
In the case of Truong v. Nguyen (California Court of Appeals, 2007), the defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Rachel had assumed the risks of riding on a jet ski. The trial court __________ that motion, and and the California Court of Appeals __________.
granted; affirmed
The vast majority of medical malpractice lawsuits are a kind of __________ lawsuit.
negligence
A medical malpractice lawsuit is a kind of:
negligence lawsuit.
Which of the following terms and expressions means "a legal doctrine which allows a court to assume that a duty was owed by the defendant, breached by the defendant, and was a foreseeable cause of the plaintiff's harm if the harm was caused by an act that is prohibited by statute"?
negligence per se
If the injury would ________ have occurred in the absence of the defendant's breach of duty, then the defendant's breach is said to have been the factual cause of the plaintiff's injury.
not
In the case of Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad (New York Court of Appeals, 1928), the railroad was found __________ for Ms. Palsgraf's injury.
not liable