DE Bar Torts and Negligence 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Delaware law, the statute of limitations for most personal injury actions is:
- Two years (Correct answer)
- One year
- Three years
- Six years
Correct answer: Two years
Delaware's 10 Del. C. § 8119 sets a two-year limitations period for personal injury claims.
Question 2: A social guest injured by a hidden defect in a Delaware home is classified at common law as which type of entrant?
- Licensee (Correct answer)
- Invitee
- Trespasser
- Business visitor
Correct answer: Licensee
Social guests are licensees, owed a duty to warn of known hidden dangers but not a duty of reasonable inspection.
Question 3: In a strict products liability action, which defect theory alleges the product was made exactly as designed but the design itself is unreasonably dangerous?
- Design defect (Correct answer)
- Manufacturing defect
- Failure to warn
- Breach of express warranty
Correct answer: Design defect
A design defect claim challenges the inherent design, typically under a risk-utility or consumer expectation test.
Question 4: A defendant's negligence stalls the plaintiff's car on train tracks; a train strikes the car. The train's arrival is best characterized as:
- A foreseeable intervening cause that does not cut off liability (Correct answer)
- A superseding cause relieving the defendant
- An independent criminal act
- An act of God barring recovery
Correct answer: A foreseeable intervening cause that does not cut off liability
Foreseeable intervening forces within the risk created by the defendant's negligence do not break the causal chain.
Question 5: Under Delaware's guest statute for premises, what must a bare licensee or guest without payment generally prove against an owner of a private residence?
- Willful or wanton conduct or intentional harm (Correct answer)
- Ordinary negligence
- Gross negligence only
- Strict liability
Correct answer: Willful or wanton conduct or intentional harm
Delaware's premises guest statute (25 Del. C. § 1501) limits a gratuitous guest's recovery to intentional or willful/wanton conduct.
Question 6: An employer is sued for an employee's tort committed while making a personal stop far outside the delivery route. The employer's best argument is:
- The employee was on a frolic, outside the scope of employment (Correct answer)
- The employee was an independent contractor
- The tort was merely negligent, not intentional
- Respondeat superior never covers driving
Correct answer: The employee was on a frolic, outside the scope of employment
A frolic is a major deviation from employment duties that takes the employee outside the scope of employment, defeating respondeat superior.
Question 7: To recover for defamation, a private-figure plaintiff suing over a statement on a matter of public concern must prove at minimum:
- Negligence as to falsity (Correct answer)
- Actual malice
- Strict liability applies, so only falsity
- Ill will toward the plaintiff
Correct answer: Negligence as to falsity
Under Gertz, private figures on matters of public concern must prove at least negligence regarding the statement's falsity.
DE Bar Torts and Negligence 3
Under Delaware law, the statute of limitations for most personal injury actions is: