Torts Flashcards

To establish a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove which four elements?

Answer: Duty, breach, causation, damages

A negligence claim requires the plaintiff to establish that the defendant owed a duty of care, breached that duty, the breach actually and proximately caused the plaintiff's injuries, and the plaintiff suffered damages.

Under Massachusetts law, what standard of comparative fault reduces a plaintiff's recovery proportionally?

Answer: Modified comparative fault bars recovery if the plaintiff is 51% or more at fault

Massachusetts applies modified comparative negligence under M.G.L. c. 231, § 85, reducing recovery proportionally by the plaintiff's fault and barring recovery entirely if the plaintiff is 51% or more at fault.

Which intentional tort involves the intentional confinement of a person within fixed boundaries without their consent?

Answer: False imprisonment

False imprisonment is the intentional act of confining a person within boundaries fixed by the defendant, against the plaintiff's will, with no reasonable means of escape.

Under products liability, the strict liability doctrine of Restatement § 402A holds sellers liable for:

Answer: Unreasonably dangerous products in a defective condition that cause harm

Restatement (Second) § 402A imposes strict liability on sellers of products in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to users or consumers, regardless of the seller's negligence or privity.

A public figure plaintiff suing for defamation must prove the defendant acted with:

Answer: Actual malice — knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth

Under New York Times v. Sullivan, a public figure must prove actual malice—that the defendant made the statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.

The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows a negligence inference when:

Answer: The accident is of a type that ordinarily would not occur without negligence, and the instrumentality was in the defendant's exclusive control

Res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of negligence when the accident is the type that ordinarily does not occur without someone's negligence and the defendant had exclusive control over the instrumentality that caused it.