MA Bar Torts 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: To establish a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove which four elements?
- Intent, act, causation, damages
- Duty, breach, causation, damages (Correct answer)
- Malice, breach, harm, standing
- Duty, knowledge, harm, intent
Correct 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.
Question 2: Under Massachusetts law, what standard of comparative fault reduces a plaintiff's recovery proportionally?
- Contributory negligence bars recovery entirely
- Pure comparative fault allows recovery regardless of plaintiff's fault percentage
- Modified comparative fault bars recovery if the plaintiff is 51% or more at fault (Correct answer)
- Last clear chance doctrine applies instead of comparative fault
Correct 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.
Question 3: Which intentional tort involves the intentional confinement of a person within fixed boundaries without their consent?
- Battery
- Assault
- False imprisonment (Correct answer)
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Correct 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.
Question 4: Under products liability, the strict liability doctrine of Restatement § 402A holds sellers liable for:
- Products they knew were defective
- Unreasonably dangerous products in a defective condition that cause harm (Correct answer)
- Only manufacturing defects, not design defects
- Products only if privity of contract exists
Correct 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.
Question 5: A public figure plaintiff suing for defamation must prove the defendant acted with:
- Negligence
- Malice toward the plaintiff personally
- Actual malice — knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth (Correct answer)
- Gross negligence
Correct 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.
Question 6: The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur allows a negligence inference when:
- The defendant admits fault
- The accident is of a type that ordinarily would not occur without negligence, and the instrumentality was in the defendant's exclusive control (Correct answer)
- Direct evidence of negligence is available
- The plaintiff was an invitee on the defendant's property
Correct 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.
MA Bar Torts 1
To establish a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove which four elements?