Torts

This lesson explores an intentional tort that is one of the most recent torts to emerge, one of the most commonly pleaded today, and one that is still evolving. The tort is most commonly called intentional infliction of mental distress; sometimes courts call it intentional infliction of emotional distress, or simply outrage.

The Right of Privacy is actually four different torts. This lesson will cover the basic elements of Commercial Appropriation, Intrusion, Public Disclosure, and False Light. Although it is necessary to make references to the Constitutional issues raised with these claims, that issue will be discussed in more detail in a separate lesson.

This lesson deals with the respective roles of judge and jury in deciding a torts case. It considers the procedural devices used (primarily by defendants) in an attempt to keep the case away from the jury and to provide the basis for an appeal.

The Right of Privacy, much like defamation, raises serious Constitutional issues. Those issues arise, primarily, with the tort of Public Disclosure and False Light. This lesson discusses the details raised by that Constitutional problem.

This lesson deals with basic and specific measures of damages recoverable in torts for harms to the interest in maintaining the physical integrity of personal property. Invasions of this interest are distinct from invasions of the interest in exclusive possession and the interest in use and enjoyment, and the law of damages reflects the differences. In order to deal effectively with the differences, separate lessons treat the interests in possession and use and enjoyment. The substance of causes of action available in torts for recovering damages is not treated here.

This lesson covers the basic and specific measures of damages recoverable for tortious injuries to the interest in use and enjoyment of personal property. Students will be acquainted with conceptual and pragmatic problems of valuing the interest in use and enjoyment of personal property.

This lesson covers basic and specific measures of damages recoverable for tortious invasions of the interest in exclusive possession of personal property.

The student will be presented with concrete situations in which to consider application of rules and concepts of the law of damages. Analytically, invasions of the interest are separated into permanent deprivations and temporary deprivations and the different rules applicable to the two different contexts are explored.

This lesson serves as background and foundation for other lessons on damages for harms to personal property. It deals with general principles and basic measures of damages recoverable for harms to personal property.

This lesson will cover the basic, common law elements of defamation. The discussion will review the defamatory statement, truth, and publication concerning the plaintiff. The lesson will also cover the basic issues in privileges. Although substantial Constitutional issues now exist with defamation, those problems will be covered in a separate lesson.

This lesson identifies the law of the intentional tort of assault, and challenges the student to apply unusual fact situations to that law. The exercise explores the tort of assault as it has developed to cover modern settings.

This exercise builds upon the tutorial entitled Causation in Fact and that lesson should be completed prior to this exercise. In this exercise, the evidentiary burdens of proof are considered in relation to the use of direct and circumstantial evidence and the use of expert testimony. The exercises illuminate issues surrounding problems of proving who or what caused the plaintiff's harm. Burden shifting devices employed by courts in special situations are also considered.

This lesson covers the area traditionally known as "negligence per se." The problem of when can a civil or criminal statute be used as the standard of care in negligence cases is the primary matter discussed. The lesson gives some special attention to the "Dram Shop" example.

This lesson deals with basic principles and measures of damages recoverable for harms to real property. The analysis to which students will be acquainted examines the harms in the context of three categories of interests to be protected by the law of damages. Those categories, which are separately treated in the lesson, are exclusive possession, physical integrity and use and enjoyment.

This lesson is concerned with the liability of occupiers of premises to trespassers on those premises. It begins by considering who is a trespasser for these purposes, before moving on to consider the content of the duty owed by occupiers to trespassers. The special case of child trespassers is given special consideration.

This lessons discusses the standard of care of professionals. The initial sections illustrate the general duty of professionals and highlight special problems associated with the professional standard. Special attention is then directed toward the malpractice action against attorneys.

Battery Puzzlers is one of two lessons available from CALI on the intentional tort of battery. The other lesson, Battery Basics, is designed for students who will spend little time on battery in their classes or are uncomfortable with their understanding of the tort. It is designed to provide a solid understanding of battery.

This exercise begins by illustrating the distinction between cause in fact and legal or proximate cause and then utilizes questions intended to familiarize the student with the but for or sine qua non test and the substantial factor test. The exercise also covers issues relating to concurrent cause dilemmas and problems in identifying which harm was caused to the plaintiff by multiple negligent defendants.

Battery Basics is an introduction and initial exploration of the intentional tort of battery. It is designed primarily for students who want to test their basic knowledge of the tort, or who spent little or no time on intentional torts in class. Battery Basics identifies the elements of battery, requires application to some common fact situations, and responds to common misconceptions about the tort.

This lesson covers the traditional negligence standard of care for children. It, of course, deals with the exceptional circumstances of when the adult standard applies to children. In addition, the lesson covers other diminished capacity examples, such as mental illness, physical disability, and intoxication.

This lesson introduces the student to the structure, function, and terminology of the law of damages in the context of torts cases. It deals with the concept of general and special damages and presents questions that help students distinguish the two categories. Problems of measurement of damages are introduced, and nominal damages are briefly considered.

This lesson considers the differences between the various comparative fault schemes found in different jurisdictions. It begins by considering in what respects the plaintiff's conduct is being compared with the defendant's conduct. Next, it introduces students to the three main types of comparative fault schemes before going on to illustrate when and how they lead to different results, with particular reference to aggregation of defendants' fault.

This lesson contains problems and questions concerning the Reasonable Person standard for negligence actions. The central issue in negligence is the duty of care. For the typical adult, the standard is the Reasonable Person of Ordinary Prudence under similar circumstances.

The traditional division of negligence into duty, breach of duty, causation (cause in fact and proximate cause), and damages provides the structure of this lesson. The student will find navigation to an individual section or even to an individual area (such as res ipsa loquitur within breach of duty) easy. The most likely use of the lesson is as a review and test of understanding following classroom discussion, but the questions can also be used to preview that discussion.

This lesson is designed to lead the student through exploration of the intentional torts and their defenses. It is divided into intent, torts against person, torts against property, and defenses. Each of these sections is subdivided: for example, the torts against person section contains questions on battery, assault, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. This organization allows use of the lesson in various ways.