DE Bar Torts and Negligence 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Delaware's modified comparative negligence statute, a plaintiff found 51% at fault will recover what portion of damages?
- Nothing (Correct answer)
- 49% of damages
- 51% of damages
- Full damages reduced by a jury discretion factor
Correct answer: Nothing
Delaware bars recovery when the plaintiff's negligence exceeds 50%, so a 51%-at-fault plaintiff recovers nothing.
Question 2: A landowner in Wilmington keeps an unfenced swimming pool. A 6-year-old trespasser drowns. Which doctrine most likely supports liability?
- Attractive nuisance doctrine (Correct answer)
- Res ipsa loquitur
- Assumption of risk
- Firefighter's rule
Correct answer: Attractive nuisance doctrine
The attractive nuisance doctrine imposes liability on landowners for artificial conditions likely to attract child trespassers who cannot appreciate the danger.
Question 3: In a negligence per se claim under Delaware law, violation of a safety statute establishes which elements?
- Duty and breach (Correct answer)
- Causation and damages
- All four elements of negligence
- Breach and proximate cause only
Correct answer: Duty and breach
Negligence per se conclusively establishes duty and breach, but the plaintiff must still prove causation and damages.
Question 4: A defendant negligently injures a plaintiff with an unusually fragile skull, causing catastrophic harm a normal person would not suffer. What is the result?
- Defendant is liable for the full extent of the harm (Correct answer)
- Defendant is liable only for foreseeable harm to a normal person
- Defendant is not liable because the harm was unforeseeable
- Liability is apportioned between the parties
Correct answer: Defendant is liable for the full extent of the harm
Under the eggshell plaintiff rule, a tortfeasor takes the victim as found and is liable for the full extent of the injury.
Question 5: Which element distinguishes intentional infliction of emotional distress from negligent infliction of emotional distress?
- Extreme and outrageous conduct (Correct answer)
- Physical injury to the plaintiff
- Presence in the zone of danger
- Existence of a special relationship
Correct answer: Extreme and outrageous conduct
IIED requires extreme and outrageous conduct done intentionally or recklessly, which NIED does not.
Question 6: A Delaware store owner detains a suspected shoplifter for a reasonable time and in a reasonable manner based on reasonable suspicion. In a false imprisonment suit, the owner's best defense is:
- The shopkeeper's privilege (Correct answer)
- Consent
- Necessity
- Defense of property by any means
Correct answer: The shopkeeper's privilege
The shopkeeper's privilege permits reasonable detention of suspected shoplifters for investigation without liability for false imprisonment.
Question 7: Two defendants negligently start separate fires that merge and destroy the plaintiff's barn; either fire alone would have destroyed it. What causation test applies?
- Substantial factor test (Correct answer)
- But-for test applied to each defendant separately
- Alternative liability under Summers v. Tice
- Market share liability
Correct answer: Substantial factor test
When multiple sufficient causes combine, the substantial factor test replaces but-for causation so each defendant remains liable.
DE Bar Torts and Negligence 2
Under Delaware's modified comparative negligence statute, a plaintiff found 51% at fault will recover what portion of damages?