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1、Tort Law,General,Definition Tort law is the body of law that deals with civil wrongs, except those that arise from contract problems. Purpose to compensate an injured party through the award of damages for the injuries incurred during a tortious act,General,Underlying policy considerations maintenan
2、ce of a peaceful society deterrence social responsibility the balancing of economic interests against societal benefits,Intentional Torts,General,Definition any intentional acts that are reasonably foreseeable to cause harm to an individual, and that do so Intent Intent is most often proved through
3、circumstantial evidencethe defendants conduct, in the context of his or her surroundings and what he or she presumably knew and perceived.,General,Transferred intent Transferred intent is a doctrine used in both criminal law and tort law when the intention to harm one individual inadvertently causes
4、 a second person to be hurt instead. Under the law, the individual causing the harm will be seen as having “intended“ the act by means of the “transferred intent“ doctrine.,General,Subcategories Torts against the person assault battery false imprisonment intentional infliction of emotional distress
5、Property torts trespass to land trespass to chattels (personal property) conversion,Assault,Definition (in common law) an intentional act that creates an apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact Assault and battery As distinguished from battery, assault need not involve actual contac
6、tit only needs intent and the resulting apprehension. wielding a knife,Assault,yelling the word snake to a person whom you know is in fear of snakes Criminal assault and tortious assault In criminal law, an assault can result from an attempted battery. Since some attempted batteries might theoretica
7、lly occur when the victim is sleeping, unconscious, or unaware of the threat, criminal assault can occur even when no threat is perceived by the victim.,Assault,With the tort of assault, a perceived threat by the victim is paramount. A defendant throws a rock at a sleeping victim. He can only be gui
8、lty of the attempted battery assault, since the victim would not be aware of the possible harm.,Battery,Definition (at common law) an intentional act causing an unconsented harmful or offensive contact with a person Criminal battery and tortious battery Criminal law recognizes degrees of crimes invo
9、lving physical contact. There is but a single tort of battery.,Battery,“Harmful“ contact contact that objectively intends to injure, disfigure, impair, or cause pain “Offensive“ contact contact that would offend a persons sense of personal dignity Examples spitting in someones face,Battery,intention
10、ally knocking a hat off someones head or knocking a glass out of some-ones hand whipping a horse on which a plaintiff was riding, causing the plaintiff to fall and be injured (a nurse) failing to warn a blind patient that he is headed toward an open window, causing him to fall and injure himself,Fal
11、se Imprisonment,Definition the detention of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent Elements intent to confine a person within a certain area actual confinement awareness of the confinement by the person so confined,False Imprisonment,absence of a reasonable means of escape Remed
12、ies A court may issue a writ of habeas corpus to release a party from unlawful restraint. The person falsely imprisoned may sue the offender for damages.,IIED,Definition short for intentional infliction of emotional distress referred to as the tort of outrage in some jurisdictions intentional conduc
13、t that results in extreme emotional distress Elements The defendant must act intentionally or recklessly;,IIED,the defendants conduct must be extreme and outrageous; and the conduct must cause the plaintiff to suffer severe emotional distress. Examples A defendant refused to inform a plaintiff of th
14、e whereabouts of the plaintiffs child for several years, though that defendant knew where the child was the entire time.,IIED,A defendant sent a letter to a plaintiff falsely informing the person that a close family member had been killed in an accident.,Statute of Limitations,Definition an enactmen
15、t that restricts the time within which legal proceedings may be initiated Objective designed to prevent claims from arising after all evidence has been lost or after the facts have become obscure through the passage of time, or the death or disappearance of witnesses,Statute of Limitations,Function
16、The statute of limitations is a defense that is ordinarily asserted by the defendant to defeat an action brought against him after the appropriate time has elapsed. Application The defendant must raise the defense before the court upon answering the plaintiffs complaint.,Statute of Limitations,If not, he is regarded as having waived the defense and will not be permitted to use it in any subsequent proceedings. Tolling the statute Most jurisdictions provide that limitations are tolle
