IL Bar Torts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Illinois premises liability distinguishes between types of entrants. A licensee is owed a duty to:
- Make the premises completely safe
- Warn of known dangers and refrain from willful and wanton conduct (Correct answer)
- The same standard of care as an invitee
- No duty whatsoever
Correct answer: Warn of known dangers and refrain from willful and wanton conduct
Under traditional Illinois premises liability, a landowner owes licensees (social guests) a duty to warn of known, non-obvious dangers and to refrain from willful or wanton misconduct.
Question 2: Under the learned intermediary doctrine in Illinois pharmaceutical cases, a drug manufacturer's duty to warn runs primarily to:
- The ultimate patient/consumer
- The prescribing physician (Correct answer)
- The FDA
- The pharmacist
Correct answer: The prescribing physician
Under the learned intermediary doctrine, a drug manufacturer satisfies its duty to warn by providing adequate warnings to prescribing physicians, who then use their professional judgment for patients.
Question 3: In Illinois, the statute of limitations for personal injury tort claims is:
- 1 year
- 2 years (Correct answer)
- 3 years
- 5 years
Correct answer: 2 years
Illinois provides a 2-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.
Question 4: Which doctrine in tort law imposes liability on an employer for torts committed by an employee acting within the scope of employment?
- Negligent hiring
- Respondeat superior (Correct answer)
- Apparent authority
- Strict liability
Correct answer: Respondeat superior
Respondeat superior makes employers vicariously liable for employees' tortious acts committed within the scope of their employment, without requiring the employer to be independently at fault.
Question 5: Proximate cause in Illinois negligence law limits liability to harm that is:
- Directly caused without any intervening acts
- A foreseeable result of the defendant's negligence, including foreseeable intervening causes (Correct answer)
- Proven beyond a reasonable doubt
- The sole cause of the plaintiff's injury
Correct answer: A foreseeable result of the defendant's negligence, including foreseeable intervening causes
Proximate cause requires that the harm be a foreseeable consequence of the defendant's negligence; unforeseeable superseding causes may break the causal chain.
Question 6: The tort of nuisance protects against unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of property. A public nuisance differs from a private nuisance in that:
- Public nuisance requires proof of intentional conduct
- Public nuisance affects the community or public at large rather than a specific private interest (Correct answer)
- Public nuisance can only be brought by the state
- Private nuisance requires physical trespass
Correct answer: Public nuisance affects the community or public at large rather than a specific private interest
A public nuisance interferes with a right common to the general public, while a private nuisance unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of a specific individual's property.
IL Bar Torts 2
Illinois premises liability distinguishes between types of entrants.
A licensee is owed a duty to: