Business Law Chapter 5 Review

assault is an intentional, unexcused act that:

Creates a reasonable apprehension or fear of immediate harmful or offensive contact. NO CONTACT NECESSARY!

T/F: Bona fide competitive behavior can constitute wrongful interference with a contractual relationship

False b/c it is not a misconduct

T/F: An ordinary person standard determines whether allegedly negligent conduct resulted in a breach of a duty of care

False b/c not an ordinary person but a court appoints a reasonable person to determine the situation

T/F: Puffery is fraud

False b/c puffery is sellers talk. For it to be a fraud, there must be a misrepresentation of a fact

T/F: A reasonable apprehension or fear or harmful or offensive contact in the distant future is an assault

False b/c the consequences are immediate not distant

T/F: Internet service providers are liable for the defamatory remarks of those who use their service

False b/c there are too many users to keep track of

Tortfeasor must "intend" to commit the act, which means:

He intended the consequences of his act; or He knew with substantial certainty that certain consequences would result.

What is true about the Communications Decency Act?

It gives Internet Service Providers (ISP) less liability than a magazine publisher for defamation purposes

Jack, a medical doctor, sees Kelly who was injured in a car accident. Jack stops to help Kelly, but does not have the proper equipment to help her with her injuries. Due to Jack's actions, Kelly's injuries get worse. Decide:

Jack would likely be protected by a Good Samaritan statute.

Lonnie drives across Myra's land. This is a trespass to land only if ______________

Lonnie does not have Myra's permission to drive on her land

False Imprisonment is the intentional:

-Confinement or restraint -Of another person's activities -Without justification Merchants may reasonably detain customers if there is probable cause

Defenses to Assault and Battery:

-Consent - Self-Defense (reasonable force) - Defense of Others (reasonable force) - Defense of Property

battery is the completion of the Assault:

-Intentional or Unexcused -Harmful, Offensive or Unwelcome, Physical Contact -Plaintiff may be compensated for physical and emotional harm.

T/F: A defamatory statement must be communicated to a third part to be actionable

True

T/F: An Internet service provider is not normally liable for its users' defamatory remarks

True

T/F: Conversion is wrongfully taking or retaining an individual's personal property and placing it in the service of another

True

T/F: Strict liability is liability w/o fault

True

Fraudulent Misrepresentation:

-Misrepresentation of material fact -Intent to induce another to rely -Justifiable reliance by innocent party -Damages as a result of reliance -Causal connection.

Trespass to Land occurs when a person, without permission:

-Physically enters onto, above or below the surface of another's land or causes anything to enter onto the land -Remains, or permits anything to remain, on the land.

Appropriation:

-Use of another's name, likeness or other identifying characteristic for commercial purposes without the owner's consent Issues: -Degree of Likeness. -Right of Publicity as a Property Right.

Defamation:

-Wrongfully hurting a person's good reputation. -Law imposes duty to refrain from making false statements of fact about others. -Orally breaching this duty is slander; breaching it in print or media (and internet) is libel -Published statement must be a fact. -Opinions are protected speech under the First Amendment, and not actionable.

T/F: To commit an intentional tort, a person must intend the consequences of his or her act or know w/ substantial certainty that certain consequences will result

True

Conversion:

Wrongful possession or use of property without permission

John feels he was defamed by a national news agency. Actual malice must be shown for recovery of damages if John is:

a public figure

To protect its customers and other business invitees, Supreme Retail Corporation must warn them of

any danger that they knew of or should have known of

Dante sends a letter to Ella in which he falsely accuses her of embezzling. This is defamation only if the letter is read by ________

any third person

Any word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm is:

assault

One who voluntarily and knowingly enters into a risky situation normally cannot recover damages. This is the defense of ___________ (contributory negligence/assumption of risk)

assumption of risk

Jennifer decides to go skydiving. Kevin, who is a professional skydiver, agrees to take her and informs her of the risks associated with skydiving. When Jennifer jumps her parachute does not open properly and she is injuries. What is Kevin's best defense against liability for Jennifer's injuries?

assumption of the risk

Driving a car negligently, Rollo crashes into a utility pole. The pole falls, smashing through the roof of a house, killing Silky. But for Rollo's negligence, Silky would not have died. Regarding the death, the crash is the _______

cause in fact

When both parties' failure to use reasonable care combines to cause injury, in some states the injured party recovery is prorated according to his or her own negligence. This is __________ (comparative/contributory) negligence

comparative

A monetary award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damage sustained by the aggrieved party is:

compensatory damages

Christy takes Derek's mp3 player without his permission and sells it to Elliot. Christy has committed the tort of:

conversion

Anything published or publicly spoken that causes injury to another's good name, reputation, or character is:

defamation

Nina is injured in a truck accident and sues Opal, allpeging negligence. Opal claims that Nina was driving carelessly. Comparative negligence may reduce Nina's recovery _______________________

even if Nina was only slightly at fault

Ricky accuses Sara of fraud. Normally, the reliance that gives rise to fraud is based on a statement of ________

fact

Pam believes that Quinn is about to hit her. To prevent harmful contact in this situation, Pam nay use ___________________

force that is reasonably necessary

To protect its customers and other business invitees, Quality Mart must warn them of _______

hidden dangers

The two broad classifications of torts are:

intentional torts and unintentional torts.

Basic defenses to ______________ (negligence/intentional torts) include comparative negligence, contributory negligence, and assumption of risk

negligence

The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances is:

negligence

Hector, an engineer, supervises the construction of a new house. When the house collapses due to faulty work, the injured parties sue Hector. As a professional, Hector s held to the same standard of care as ______

other engineers

Bob carelessly underinflated the tires on his car. While switching lanes on an interstate highway, Bob's tire comes loose from his car. The tire flies through traffic and hits a retaining wall. The retaining wall collapses, and a piece of it falls onto a gas pump located at a gas station next to the highway. The gas pump, due to the impact, lit on fire which then caused a forest fire. The forest fire burned down Carol's house half of a mile away. Will Carol be able to recover for Bob's negligence?

probably not, since it would be hard for Carol to show that there was proximate cause in this case

A salesperson's often exaggerated claims of opinion concerning the quality of property offered for sale is:

puffery

John owns a company that making bombs and other explosives for the military, an abnormally dangerous activity. One day, while making a bomb, Kristen is injured. John is likely:

strictly liable to Kristen

The entry onto, above, or below the surface of land owned by another without the owner's permission or legal authorization is:

trespass to land

Online Company (OC) is an Internet service provider. Ads Unlimited, Inc., spams OC's customers some of whom then cancel OC's services. Ads Unlimited is liable for __________

trespass to personal property

Melvin, a wholesale dairy products salesperson, follows Nadine, another wholesale dairy products salesperson, as he contacts his customers. Melvin solicits each of Nadine's customers. Melvin is most likely liable for ________________________

wrongful interference with a business relatonship

Four-Step Analysis:

1. Duty: Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty of care; 2. Breach: Defendant breached that duty; 3. Causation: Defendant's breach caused the injury; 4. Damages: Plaintiff suffered legal injury.

Alan has a secret crush on Betty. One day Alan boldly and unexpectedly kissed Betty in the middle of her Business Law class. She was stunned, but suffered no physical damage. Decide:

Alan has committed the tort of battery if a reasonable person would finds the kiss offensive