Multistate Bar Exam Torts 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A plaintiff is injured when a retail store's shelf collapses. No direct evidence of negligence exists. The plaintiff invokes res ipsa loquitur. Which element is most critical for the doctrine to apply?
- The injury must have been extremely severe.
- The event must be of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence. (Correct answer)
- The defendant must have had actual notice of the danger.
- The plaintiff must rule out all possible causes of the accident.
Correct answer: The event must be of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence.
Res ipsa loquitur requires that the accident be of a type that ordinarily does not occur absent negligence, combined with exclusive control by the defendant.
Question 2: A trespasser is injured by an exposed high-voltage wire on a landowner's property. The landowner knew trespassers frequently crossed the area. Which standard of care does the landowner owe under the majority rule?
- No duty at all to trespassers
- A duty to warn of concealed, artificial dangers the owner knows about when trespassers are anticipated
- The same reasonable person standard owed to invitees
- Only the duty to refrain from willful or wanton conduct (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Only the duty to refrain from willful or wanton conduct
Under traditional common law, a landowner owes trespassers only the duty to refrain from willful, wanton, or intentional harm.
Question 3: A plaintiff sues for private nuisance after her neighbor operates a pig farm causing foul odors. The neighbor argues the farm was there before the plaintiff moved in. Which defense is this?
- Coming to the nuisance (Correct answer)
- Assumption of the risk
- Contributory negligence
- Consent
Correct answer: Coming to the nuisance
The 'coming to the nuisance' defense asserts that plaintiff moved near a pre-existing condition; most courts treat it as a factor, not a complete defense.
Question 4: A pharmacist fills a prescription with the correct drug but an incorrect dose due to a misreading, injuring the patient. Which products liability theory best applies to the pharmacist?
- Design defect in the drug
- Manufacturing defect
- Strict liability for inherently dangerous products
- Negligence in the provision of professional services (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Negligence in the provision of professional services
Pharmacists are professionals whose errors in filling prescriptions are analyzed under professional negligence, not products liability.
Question 5: A plaintiff claims a defendant committed trespass to chattels by borrowing his bicycle without permission for three hours. The bicycle was returned undamaged. Which result is most likely?
- Defendant is liable for trespass to chattels regardless of harm.
- Defendant is liable for conversion because he lacked permission.
- Defendant is not liable for trespass to chattels because there was no actual damage or significant deprivation. (Correct answer)
- Defendant is liable for negligence only.
Correct answer: Defendant is not liable for trespass to chattels because there was no actual damage or significant deprivation.
Trespass to chattels requires actual harm or significant interference; minor, temporary use causing no damage does not suffice.
Question 6: An actor in a film is falsely portrayed in a way that places her in a false light, suggesting she endorses a political cause she opposes. The information is not technically defamatory. Which privacy tort applies?
- Intrusion upon seclusion
- Appropriation of name or likeness
- Public disclosure of private facts
- False light invasion of privacy (Correct answer)
Correct answer: False light invasion of privacy
False light invasion of privacy involves publicity that places a person before the public in a misleading, highly offensive way, even if not technically defamatory.
Question 7: A plaintiff seeks damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) after witnessing her child struck by a negligent driver from across the street. The child survived. The jurisdiction follows the bystander recovery rule. Which element is most critical for recovery?
- The plaintiff must have been within the zone of physical danger.
- The plaintiff must have been a close family member who contemporaneously perceived the event. (Correct answer)
- The plaintiff must have suffered a physical impact.
- The plaintiff must prove the defendant intended to cause distress.
Correct answer: The plaintiff must have been a close family member who contemporaneously perceived the event.
Under Dillon v. Legg's bystander rule, NIED recovery requires close relationship to the victim and contemporaneous sensory perception of the accident.
Multistate Bar Exam Torts 4
A plaintiff is injured when a retail store's shelf collapses.
No direct evidence of negligence exists.
The plaintiff invokes res ipsa loquitur.
Which element is most critical for the doctrine to apply?