Torts: Negligence and Liability Flashcards
7 cards from real CLA/CP Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Torts: Negligence and Liability flashcards as text
Under the 'res ipsa loquitur' doctrine, which condition must the plaintiff establish first?
Answer: The accident is the kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence
Res ipsa loquitur requires showing the accident is of the type that ordinarily does not happen without negligence, the instrumentality was in defendant's exclusive control, and plaintiff did not contribute.
A landowner owes the highest duty of care to which category of entrant?
Answer: Invitees
Invitees—those who enter with the owner's express or implied invitation for a business or public purpose—are owed the highest duty: reasonable inspection and repair of dangerous conditions.
Which element distinguishes proximate cause from actual cause in negligence analysis?
Answer: Proximate cause asks whether the harm was a foreseeable result of the negligent act
Proximate (legal) cause limits liability to harms that were a foreseeable result of the defendant's conduct, while actual cause (but-for causation) is simply factual linkage.
Under the 'eggshell skull' rule, a defendant who negligently injures a plaintiff with an unknown pre-existing condition is liable for:
Answer: The full extent of the plaintiff's actual injuries
The eggshell skull rule holds defendants liable for the full extent of harm even if the plaintiff's unusual vulnerability made the injury far worse than expected.
In a pure comparative negligence jurisdiction, a plaintiff found 70% at fault for an accident may recover:
Answer: 30% of the total damages
Under pure comparative negligence, recovery is reduced by the plaintiff's percentage of fault, so a 70% at-fault plaintiff recovers 30% of total damages.
Which of the following best describes 'negligence per se'?
Answer: A defendant's violation of a statute that automatically establishes the duty and breach elements
Negligence per se occurs when a defendant violates a statute designed to protect a class of persons from the type of harm suffered, establishing duty and breach as a matter of law.
A superseding cause will generally relieve the original tortfeasor of liability only if it is:
Answer: An unforeseeable, independent act that breaks the causal chain
A superseding cause must be unforeseeable to break the causal chain; foreseeable intervening acts do not relieve the original defendant of liability.