UT Bar Torts and Negligence 2

Question 1

A driver texting behind the wheel swerves and hits a cyclist. To prevail on a negligence claim, the cyclist must prove duty, breach, causation, and what fourth element?

Accepted Answer

Actual damages

Answer

Negligence requires duty, breach, causation, and actual damages; without a compensable injury the claim fails.

Question 2

Under Utah's modified comparative fault system, a plaintiff is barred from recovery when their share of fault reaches what threshold?

Accepted Answer

50% or more

Answer

Utah bars recovery when the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds 50%, meaning the plaintiff must be less at fault than the defendants combined.

Question 3

A grocery store customer slips on a puddle of spilled juice that had been on the floor for two hours. Which fact is most important to the store's liability?

Accepted Answer

The store had constructive notice of the hazard

Answer

A premises owner is liable to invitees for hazards it knew of or should have discovered through reasonable inspection, and a two-hour-old spill supports constructive notice.

Question 4

A surgeon leaves a sponge inside a patient during an operation. The patient cannot identify exactly who erred among the anesthetized-surgery team. Which doctrine best helps the patient establish breach?

Accepted Answer

Res ipsa loquitur

Answer

Res ipsa loquitur permits an inference of negligence when the injury would not ordinarily occur without negligence and the instrumentality was in the defendants' control.

Question 5

A statute requires headlights after dusk. A driver with broken headlights hits a pedestrian at night. Using negligence per se, the statute's violation establishes which elements?

Accepted Answer

Duty and breach

Answer

Negligence per se substitutes the statutory standard for the reasonable-person standard, conclusively establishing duty and breach, but the plaintiff must still prove causation and damages.

(UT Bar) Utah Bar Exam Practice Test

(UT Bar) Utah Bar Exam Practice Test

UT Bar Torts and Negligence 2