TX Bar Torts and Personal Injury 3

Question 1

A defendant swings a baseball bat intending to hit a ball, but accidentally strikes the plaintiff who was standing nearby. Which analysis correctly addresses battery?

Accepted Answer

Battery exists because the defendant intended the act — swinging the bat — that caused the harmful contact

Answer

No battery because the defendant did not intend to hit the plaintiff

Answer

Battery requires the defendant to have intended to cause serious bodily harm

Answer

This is only negligence because no harmful intent was present

Question 2

Which of the following scenarios best constitutes the tort of civil assault?

Accepted Answer

Defendant raises a fist toward plaintiff, who sees the gesture and reasonably believes they are about to be struck

Answer

Defendant sneaks behind plaintiff and punches him before plaintiff realizes what is happening

Answer

Defendant calls plaintiff and threatens to hurt him next week

Answer

Defendant engages in months of workplace harassment causing severe emotional distress

Question 3

A store security guard says, 'Sit here until police arrive or I'll physically drag you back.' The shopper complies. Which element of false imprisonment is most clearly satisfied?

Accepted Answer

The plaintiff was confined through a threat of physical force

Answer

The confinement resulted in actual physical harm to the plaintiff

Answer

The defendant acted with malice toward the plaintiff

Answer

The plaintiff consented to the confinement by voluntarily complying

Question 4

In a Texas products liability claim based on a design defect, the plaintiff must prove:

Accepted Answer

A reasonable alternative design existed that would have reduced the foreseeable risk of harm without substantially impairing utility

Answer

The specific product unit deviated from the manufacturer's own specifications

Answer

The manufacturer failed to warn consumers of known hazards associated with the product

Answer

The manufacturer had subjective knowledge the design was dangerous before sale

Question 5

Which of the following activities is most likely classified as 'abnormally dangerous,' justifying strict liability in Texas?

Accepted Answer

Storing large quantities of explosives in a residential neighborhood

Answer

Operating a gasoline service station in a commercial district

Answer

Running a commercial passenger airline on scheduled routes

Answer

Performing surgery using high-powered medical lasers

Question 6

An employer berates a pregnant employee in front of coworkers, calling her pregnancy 'an embarrassment' and saying she is 'too slow to be useful.' She suffers severe emotional distress. This scenario most likely:

Accepted Answer

Likely does not satisfy IIED because insulting workplace comments, even offensive ones, rarely meet Texas's extreme-and-outrageous standard

Answer

Satisfies IIED because any intentional workplace humiliation meets the standard

Answer

Satisfies IIED because targeting a pregnant employee's condition is per se extreme and outrageous

Answer

Does not satisfy IIED because the plaintiff was not threatened with physical harm

Question 7

The primary distinction between trespass to chattels and conversion is:

Accepted Answer

The severity of the interference — minor interference versus a serious deprivation of the owner's rights

Answer

Whether the defendant acted intentionally or negligently

Answer

Whether the plaintiff suffered any accompanying physical injury

Answer

Whether the chattel was ultimately returned to the owner before suit was filed