TX Bar Torts and Personal Injury 4

Question 1

Under Texas premises liability law, what duty does a landowner owe to an adult trespasser?

Accepted Answer

A duty to warn of known, concealed dangerous conditions that pose an unreasonable risk of serious harm

Answer

Texas landowners owe adult trespassers a duty to warn of known concealed dangerous conditions posing unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm.

Question 2

Which of the following scenarios is most likely to satisfy the attractive nuisance doctrine?

Accepted Answer

An unfenced residential swimming pool adjacent to a neighborhood with young children

Answer

A residential swimming pool is the paradigm attractive nuisance — it is an artificial condition, poses serious drowning risk to young children, and can be cheaply fenced to eliminate the hazard.

Question 3

An employee delivery driver makes a 30-minute cross-town detour to visit a friend and negligently injures a pedestrian during that detour. The employer is:

Accepted Answer

Not vicariously liable because the driver was on a frolic — a substantial personal deviation from employment duties

Answer

A 30-minute cross-town personal visit is a 'frolic' — a substantial departure from employment duties that breaks the scope of employment and eliminates respondeat superior liability.

Question 4

Under the theory of negligent hiring, an employer may be held directly liable when:

Accepted Answer

The employer knew or should have known the employee posed a foreseeable risk of harm to others but hired or retained them anyway

Answer

Negligent hiring is a direct negligence claim against the employer — liability attaches when the employer knew or should have known of the employee's dangerous propensity and failed to act.

Question 5

An employer gives a reference falsely stating a former employee was fired for theft. The employer's strongest defense in a defamation action is:

Accepted Answer

Qualified privilege, because the statement was made in good faith on a matter of common interest to a party with a legitimate need to know

Answer

Employment references are protected by a qualified privilege when made in good faith, but the privilege is defeated by actual malice — knowing falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.

(TX Bar) Texas Bar Exam Practice Test

(TX Bar) Texas Bar Exam Practice Test

TX Bar Torts and Personal Injury 4