Term
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Definition
| behavior that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to others |
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Term
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Definition
| an incident that simply could not be avoided, even with reasonable care |
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Term
| Duty, Breach of Duty, Causation, Damages |
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Definition
| to prove negligence, a plaintiff must demonstrate: |
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Term
| Reasonable Person Standard |
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Definition
| measurement of the way members of society expect an individual to act in a given situation--used to determine duty of care |
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Term
1. How likely was it that the harm would occur?
2. How serious was the harm?
3. How socially beneficial was the defendant's conduct that posed the risk of harm?
4. What costs would have been necessary to reduce the risk of harm? |
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Definition
| Courts ask these questions to determine whether a reasonable person would have owed a duty to others |
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Term
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Definition
| cases that occur when clients feel that they have suffered damages as a result of a professional's breach of her duty of care |
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Term
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Definition
| defendant's conduct violated his or her duty |
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Term
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Definition
| also known as cause in fact, determination that the defendant's breach of duty resulted directly in the plaintiff's injury |
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Term
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Definition
| legal cause, the extent to which, as a matter of policy, a defendant may be held liable for the consequences of his actions; determined my forseeability |
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Term
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Definition
| sustained compensable injury as a result of the defendant's actions |
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Term
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Definition
| damages intended to reimburse a plaintiff for his or her losses |
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Term
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Definition
| imposed to punish the offender and deter others from committing similar offenses, usually awarded when gross negligence is present |
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Term
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Definition
| an action committed with extreme reckless disregard for the property or life of another person |
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Term
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Definition
| "the thing speaks for itself"; allows the judge or jury to infer that more likely than not, the defendant's negligence was the cause of the plaintiff's harm |
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Term
1. The event was a king that ordinarily does not occur in the absence of negligence
2. Other responsible causes, including the conduct of third parties and the platiniff, have been sufficiently eliminated
3. The indicated negligence is within the scope of the defendant's duty to the plantiff |
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Definition
| To establish res ipsa loquitor the plaintiff must demonstrate: |
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Term
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Definition
| "negligence in or of itself" if the defendant's violation causes the plaintiff to suffer from the type of harm that the statute intends to prevent |
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Term
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Definition
| allow bartenders and bar owners to be held liable for injuries caused by individuals who become intoxicated at the bar |
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Term
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Definition
| (1) plaintiff's conduct fell below the standard of care needed to prevent unreasonable risk of harm and (2) the plaintiff's failure was a contributing cause to the plaintiff's injury--if proven, no matter how slight the plaintiff's negligence, the plaintiff will be denied any recovery damages |
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Term
| Last-clear-chance doctrine |
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Definition
| allows the plaintiff to recover damages despite proof of contributory negligence as long as the defendant had a final clear opportunity to avoid the action that injured the plaintiff |
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Term
| Pure Comparative Negligence defense |
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Definition
| court determines the percentage of fault of the defendant--defendant is then liable for that percentage of the plaintiff's damages |
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Term
| Modified Comparative Negligence defense |
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Definition
| defendant must be more than 50% at fault before the plaintiff can recover |
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Term
| Assumption of the risk defense |
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Definition
| defendant must prove that the plaintiff voluntarily and unreasonably encountered the risk of the actual harm the defendant caused |
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Term
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Definition
| hold that people in peril who receive voluntary aid from others cannot hold those offering aid liable for negligence |
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Term
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Definition
| an unforeseeable event that interrupts the causal chain between the defendant's breach of duty and the damages the plaintiff suffered--disprove the causation element necessary to sustain a negligence claim |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
1. involves a risk of serious harm to people or property
2. is so inherently dangerous that it cannot ever be safely undertaken
3. is not usually performed in the immediate community |
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Definition
| the law holds an individual liable without fault when the activity she engages in: |
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