1. Tort Law and Product Liability,
CHAPTER 14
Tort Law and Product Liability,

2. Introduction Torts are wrongful actions
Through tort law, society seeks to compensate those who have suffered injuries as a result of the wrongful conduct of others
Product liability is a major area of tort law under which sellers can be held liable for defective products
A growing body of law is designed to protect the health and safety and the credit of consumers

3. The Basis of Tort Law Wrongs and Compensation
One Person or Group Brings Suit against Another
Obtain compensation (money damages)
Other relief for harm suffered
Purpose of Tort Law Is to Provide Remedies
Invasion of protected interests or rights
Elements of a Tort
Points that plaintiff must prove to succeed
Learning Objective: What a tort is, the purpose of tort law, and the basic categories of torts.

4. Intentional Torts Requires Intent Tortfeasor: The Person Accused
Intended the consequences of an act
Knew or should have known that certain consequences would result from an act
Fall into Two Categories
Against persons
Against property

5. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons Assault
Act intended to cause an apprehension of harmful or offensive contact
Act caused apprehension in the victim that harmful or offensive contact is imminent

6. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons Battery
An intent to cause an unwanted contact
The unwanted harmful contact
Compensation
Defenses to assault and battery
Consent
Self-defense
Defense of others
Defense of property

7. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons False Imprisonment
Intent to confine or restrain a person
Actual confinement in boundaries not of the plaintiff’s choosing
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Outrageous conduct by the defendant
Intent
Severe emotional distress suffered by the plaintiff with the emotional distress being caused by the defendant’s conduct

8. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons Defamation
Wrongfully harming a person’s good reputation
Slander: breaching this duty orally
Libel: breaching this duty in writing
The publication requirement
Defenses against defamation
Truth
Privileged communications
Made without actual malice

9. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons
Invasion of the right to privacy
Use of person’s name, picture, or likeness for commercial purposes without permission
Intrusion into person’s affairs or seclusion
Publication of information that places person in false light
Public disclosure of private facts about individual that ordinary person would find objectionable

10. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons Appropriation
Use by one person of another person’s name, likeness, or other identifying characteristic without permission and for the benefit of the user

11. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons
Misrepresentation (fraud)
Intentional deceit for personal gain
Elements of fraud
Misrepresentation of facts or conditions with knowledge that they are false or with reckless disregard for the truth
Intent to induce another to rely on the misrepresentation
Justifiable reliance by the deceived party
Damages suffered as a result of the reliance
Causal connection between the misrepresentation and the harm suffered
Fact versus opinion

12. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons
Wrongful interference
Wrongful interference with a contractual relationship
Valid, enforceable contract exists between two parties
Third party knows that this contract exists
Third party intentionally causes either of the two parties to breach the contract

13. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Persons
Wrongful interference
Wrongful interference with a business relationship
Defendant knew or had reason to know that a third party and the plaintiff are in a business relationship
Defendant intentionally interfered in the relationship
Defenses to wrongful interference

14. Intentional Torts Intentional Torts against Property Trespass to land
Trespass criteria, rights, and duties
Defenses against trespass to land
Trespass to personal property
Conversion

15. Negligence
Negligence occurs when someone suffers injury because of another’s failure to live up to required duty of care
Elements
Defendant owed a duty of care
Defendant breached that duty
Plaintiff suffered a legally recognizable injury
Defendant’s breach caused the injury suffered
Learning Objective: The four elements of negligence.

16. Negligence The Duty of Care and Its Breach Reasonable person standard
The duty of property owners
Duty to business invitees
Open and obvious risks
The duty of professionals
Medical malpractice
Legal malpractice

17. Negligence The Injury Requirement and Damages
Legally recognizable injury
Clearly establish a basis for recovery
Compensatory damages
Compensate or reimburse for actual losses
Punitive damages
Punish the wrongdoer and deter others from similar wrongdoing

18. Negligence Causation Wrongful activity must have caused harm
Court must address two questions
Is there causation in fact?
Was the act the proximate cause of the injury?
Both must be answered in the affirmative for liability in a tort to arise

19. Negligence Defenses to Negligence Assumption of risk Superseding cause
Plaintiff voluntarily enters into a risky situation, knowing the risk
Superseding cause
Unforeseeable intervening event may break the connection between wrongful act and injury to another
Contributory and comparative negligence
Contributory: plaintiff was also negligent
Comparative: liability for injuries is shared proportionately by all parties who were guilty of negligence

20. Negligence Special Negligence Doctrines and Statutes Negligence per se
Action or failure to act in violation of statutory requirement
Special negligence statutes
Good Samaritan statutes
Dram shop acts

21. Cyber Torts: Defamation Online
Liability of Internet Service Providers
Communications Decency Act
Internet service providers are not liable for defamatory statements
Piercing the Veil of Anonymity
ISPs can disclose personal information about their customers only when ordered by a court
Rights of plaintiffs are balanced against defendants’ rights to free speech

22. Strict Liability Liability Is Imposed for Reasons Other Than Fault
Abnormally Dangerous Activities
Potential harm of a serious nature to persons and property
Involves a high degree of risk
Not commonly performed in the community or area
Basis of Liability
The creation of an extraordinary risk
Learning Objective: What is meant by strict liability and the underlying policy for imposing strict product liability.

23. Product Liability Theories of Product Liability
Product liability based on negligence
Manufacturer fails to exercise due care to make product safe
Product liability based on misrepresentation
Manufacturer or seller misrepresents quality, nature, or appropriate use of a product
Strict product liability
Manufacturing defects
Design defects
Warning defects

24. Product Liability Defenses to Product Liability
No duty to warn against obvious or commonly
known risks
Assumption of risk
Product misuse
Comparative negligence
Learning Objective: What defenses can be raised in product liability actions.

25. Summary
Two notions serve as the basis of all torts: wrongs and compensation.
A tort is a civil wrong. Torts fall into two broad classifications: intentional torts and negligence.
Intentional torts occur when the actor intended to perform an act that resulted in an injury to a protected right of another party

26. Summary
Negligence is the careless performance of a legally required duty or the failure to perform a legally required act.
General tort principles are extended to cover cyber torts, or torts that occur in cyberspace, such as online defamation.
Under the doctrine of strict liability, a person or company may be held liable for damages or injuries caused by a product or activity.

27. Summary
The makers of products can be liable for injuries and damages caused by defective products.
Statutes, agency rules, and common law judicial decisions that serve to protect the interests of consumers are classified as consumer law.