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Negligence

Negligence. Negligence (unintentional tort)---- the unintentional causing of harm that could have been prevented if________. (the defendant had acted as a reasonable and prudent person ) Negligence exists when four conditions are met: D must have owed P a duty;

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Negligence

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  1. Negligence

  2. Negligence (unintentional tort)---- the unintentional causing of harm that could have been prevented if________. (the defendant had acted as a reasonable and prudent person) • Negligence exists when four conditions are met: • D must have owed P a duty; • D must have breached the duty; • P must have suffered a legally recognizable injury; • The breach of duty must be the actual and the legal cause of the plaintiff’s injury.

  3. 2. If a plaintiff wants to win and recover in a negligence suit, what must he prove? • The existence of duty • The breach of that duty • Injury to the plaintiff • Causation between the negligent conduct and the injury

  4. Duty • The law of negligence measures duty by an objective, yet flexible, standard of conduct----__________________. (the reasonable person standard) • The reasonable person standard ---- “a reasonable person of ordinary prudence in similar circumstances” This standard is objective because the reasonable person is a hypothetical person who is always thoughtful and cautious and never unreasonably endangers others.

  5. Breach A person is guilty of breach of duty if he exposes another to an unreasonable, foreseeable risk of harm. Cases (1)If Wilson is carefully driving his car within the speed limit and has a heart attack that causes him to lose control and crash into a car driven by Thomas, is Wilson liable? Wilson would ordinarily not be liable to Thomas for his injuries. The accident is not the result of any breach of that duty because it was unforeseeable.

  6. (2) If Wilson’s doctor has advised him that he had a heart condition that made driving dangerous and then the above situation happens, is Wilson liable? His failure to heed his doctor’s warning would probably amount to a breach of duty because he was plainly exposing others to foreseeable risk of harm by driving.

  7. Injury (1) Statements (T or F) ____ Negligent conduct alone is tortious. ____ Without injury, there is no recovery. (2)To recover damages in a negligence case, the plaintiff must prove there is a legally recognizable damage, or injury to him.

  8. (3) If a plaintiff can prove the following kinds of injuries---- (a) some impact or contact with the plaintiff’s person , (b) some serious physical injuries or symptoms resulted form the plaintiff’s emotional distress or (c) emotional harms, which one is more easily compensated?

  9. A. Courts have great reluctance to impose liability for purely emotional harms caused by intentional wrongs (e.g., Infliction of Emotional Distress). B. It might be correctly assumed that an even greater reluctance would exist when the conduct producing an emotional injury was merely negligent.

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