Torts and Negligence Flashcards

In Louisiana, the 'but-for' test for establishing actual cause in a negligence case asks whether:

Answer: The plaintiff's injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's negligent conduct

The but-for test establishes actual causation by asking whether the harm would not have occurred absent the defendant's negligent conduct — the negligence must be a necessary condition for the harm.

Two defendants each independently start separate fires that merge and together burn down the plaintiff's house — and either fire alone would have been sufficient to destroy it. Louisiana courts resolving causation would apply:

Answer: The substantial factor test, holding both defendants liable because each was a substantial cause of the harm

The substantial factor test resolves cases where two independently sufficient causes each contributed to the same harm, preventing the but-for test from paradoxically exonerating both defendants.

Under Louisiana's 'eggshell plaintiff' (thin-skull) rule, a defendant who negligently injures a plaintiff with a pre-existing medical condition is liable for:

Answer: All damages caused by the tortious conduct, even if the plaintiff's pre-existing vulnerability made the injury far greater than foreseeable

The eggshell plaintiff rule holds defendants fully liable for the extent of harm regardless of the plaintiff's unusual vulnerability — defendants take their victims as they find them.

Under Louisiana Civil Code Articles 2315.1 and 2315.2, which statement correctly distinguishes the survival action from the wrongful death action?

Answer: The survival action recovers the decedent's own pre-death damages for the estate; the wrongful death action compensates surviving beneficiaries for their personal losses caused by the death

The survival action (Art. 2315.1) transmits the decedent's own claims for pre-death damages to the estate; the wrongful death action (Art. 2315.2) compensates surviving beneficiaries for their personal losses due to the death.

Which parties are entitled to bring a wrongful death action under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2?

Answer: Surviving spouse and children first; if none, then parents; if none, then siblings; if none, then grandparents — in ranked priority

Art. 2315.2 creates a ranked priority system of beneficiaries — surviving spouse and children first, then parents, then siblings, then grandparents — and only the highest-priority surviving class may bring the action.

In Louisiana, punitive damages in tort actions are generally:

Answer: Available only in specific cases where a statute expressly authorizes them, such as injuries caused by drunk driving

Louisiana Civil Code Art. 2315 does not authorize punitive damages generally; they are available only when a specific statute expressly provides for them, such as La. R.S. 9:2798.4 for DWI-related injuries.

In Louisiana, an intervening cause relieves the original tortfeasor of liability only when the intervening act qualifies as:

Answer: A superseding cause: an unforeseeable, independent act that breaks the chain of causation from the original negligence

Only a superseding cause — an unforeseeable intervening act independent of the original negligence — breaks the causal chain and relieves the original tortfeasor of liability; a foreseeable intervening act does not.