GA Bar Torts and Negligence 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Georgia law, which doctrine allows a plaintiff to recover even if they were partially at fault, as long as their fault does not exceed the defendant's?
- Contributory negligence
- Modified comparative fault (Correct answer)
- Pure comparative fault
- Assumption of risk
Correct answer: Modified comparative fault
Georgia follows modified comparative fault (OCGA § 51-12-33), barring recovery if the plaintiff is 50% or more at fault.
Question 2: A store owner knows a floor is wet but fails to post a warning sign. A customer slips and falls. Under premises liability, the store owner is best classified as owing the customer which duty?
- Duty owed to a trespasser
- Duty owed to a licensee
- Duty owed to an invitee (Correct answer)
- No duty because the customer assumed the risk
Correct answer: Duty owed to an invitee
A customer in a store is a business invitee, to whom the owner owes the highest duty of care including inspection and warning of known hazards.
Question 3: In a products liability case in Georgia, which theory imposes liability on a manufacturer without requiring proof of negligence in the manufacturing process?
- Negligence per se
- Strict products liability (Correct answer)
- Breach of warranty only
- Fraudulent misrepresentation
Correct answer: Strict products liability
Strict products liability holds manufacturers liable for defective products regardless of whether they exercised reasonable care.
Question 4: Which element of negligence requires a plaintiff to show that the defendant's breach was the 'but-for' cause of the plaintiff's injury?
- Proximate cause
- Actual cause (cause-in-fact) (Correct answer)
- Duty
- Damages
Correct answer: Actual cause (cause-in-fact)
Actual cause (cause-in-fact) is established by the but-for test: but for the defendant's conduct, the plaintiff's injury would not have occurred.
Question 5: A defendant commits battery by intentionally striking the plaintiff. The plaintiff also suffers severe emotional distress from the incident. Which tort doctrine allows recovery for that emotional harm?
- The physical impact rule bars all emotional distress claims
- Parasitic damages allow emotional distress to attach to the battery claim (Correct answer)
- The plaintiff must file a separate IIED claim only
- Georgia does not allow emotional distress damages in battery cases
Correct answer: Parasitic damages allow emotional distress to attach to the battery claim
Parasitic damages permit emotional distress recovery as an element of damages when attached to an underlying tort like battery.
Question 6: Under the 'danger invites rescue' doctrine, if a defendant negligently creates a peril that causes a bystander to attempt a rescue, who is liable if the rescuer is injured?
- No one, because the rescuer voluntarily intervened
- The rescuer, for contributory negligence
- The original negligent defendant (Correct answer)
- Only the person who was endangered
Correct answer: The original negligent defendant
Under the danger-invites-rescue doctrine (Cardozo's rule), a negligent defendant is liable to rescuers injured while attempting to save the defendant's victim.
Question 7: Georgia's 'firefighter's rule' generally prevents which class of plaintiffs from suing for injuries caused by the very hazard that necessitated their presence?
- Professional rescuers such as police and firefighters (Correct answer)
- Invitees on commercial property
- Licensees who enter with permission
- Trespassers discovered on private land
Correct answer: Professional rescuers such as police and firefighters
The firefighter's rule bars professional rescuers from recovering for injuries caused by the negligence that required their response.
GA Bar Torts and Negligence 2
Under Georgia law, which doctrine allows a plaintiff to recover even if they were partially at fault, as long as their fault does not exceed the defendant's?