Torts and Negligence Flashcards
7 cards from real IN BAR 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 and Negligence flashcards as text
A rescuer is injured while pulling a driver from a burning car caused by the driver's own negligence. The rescuer's negligence claim against the driver is supported by:
Answer: The rescue doctrine, because danger invites rescue and rescuers are foreseeable plaintiffs
Under the rescue doctrine, one who negligently imperils himself or others owes a duty to foreseeable rescuers injured in the attempt.
Under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, a person suing a political subdivision for personal injury must file a notice of tort claim within:
Answer: 180 days after the loss occurs
The Indiana Tort Claims Act requires notice to a political subdivision within 180 days of the loss (270 days for claims against the state).
A patient dies of a condition a doctor negligently failed to diagnose, but the patient already had less than a 50% chance of survival. In Indiana, the estate may still recover under:
Answer: A lost chance theory, with damages proportioned to the reduced chance of survival
Indiana recognizes loss-of-chance in medical malpractice, allowing proportional recovery for the diminished probability of a better outcome.
Two hunters negligently fire simultaneously and one pellet hits the plaintiff, but he cannot prove whose gun fired it. Under the alternative liability doctrine, the burden of proof on causation:
Answer: Shifts to each negligent defendant to prove his shot did not cause the harm
Summers v. Tice shifts the causation burden to multiple negligent defendants when the plaintiff cannot identify which one caused the harm.
A skydiving customer signs a clear, conspicuous waiver releasing the company from liability for its own negligence. In Indiana, such an exculpatory clause is generally:
Answer: Enforceable if knowingly and willingly signed, unless it violates public policy or covers reckless conduct
Indiana enforces clear exculpatory agreements for negligence absent a public policy violation, but not for willful or wanton misconduct.
A defendant falsely tells a woman her husband was killed in an accident, as a cruel prank, and she suffers severe emotional trauma. Her best claim is:
Answer: Intentional infliction of emotional distress based on extreme and outrageous conduct
Extreme and outrageous conduct intended to cause severe emotional distress that actually results supports an IIED claim.
In an Indiana wrongful death action brought for the death of an adult with no dependents, damages are notably limited because:
Answer: The Adult Wrongful Death Statute caps damages for loss of love and companionship
Indiana's Adult Wrongful Death Statute permits recovery for loss of love and companionship but caps that component of damages.