Lawsuits can be about wrongs {tort, law}| {delict} done to people or property. Wrongs must violate lawful rights. People who commit torts are liable and pay compensation. Compensation can be for time lost, bodily injury, illness, or mental anguish.
People ordinarily do not have to aid or protect others {non-action, law}. However, private property owners must help or protect people on their land, common carriers must help and protect passengers, and innkeepers must help and protect guests.
Acts can be wrongful or unlawful {malfeasance}|.
Lawful acts can have negligent performance {misfeasance}.
People can not act when required {non-feasance}.
Lawful situations can involve duties to be careful. People can claim that other people were not careful, or not careful enough {negligence}|. People can act with recklessness {gross negligence}.
cause
Conduct and wrong must have a causal relation {proximate cause}. Negligence can result from negligent acts, failures to act when acting is a duty, acts done by machines or objects controlled or owned by people, acts done by agents or employees while doing their jobs, accidents from defective machinery, or dangerous activities.
defense
Half of states prevent vehicle passengers from suing for negligence. In those states, passengers can sue only for gross negligence.
Torts {nuisance}| can claim annoyance, damage, or danger by the manner in which owners use their property.
Defamation, deceit, assault, battery, trespass, conversion, and false imprisonment involve intentions {intentional torts}|. Contract breaches are not torts. Land, tangible, and intangible personal property have different treatments in law. Land is real property. Tangibles are cars, clothing, appliances, and jewelry. Intangibles are stocks and bonds.
Fear of injury {assault}| does not require physical contact. Victims must be aware that they are under threat, and other person must be able to harm them. Words alone are not assault.
Intentionally caused physical injuries {battery, law}| do not require fear of injury. Unauthorized surgeries can be battery. Battery does not apply if victim consents first.
Unlawful detention against will {false imprisonment}| completely prevents doing normal activities. Laws against shoplifting modify rights against false imprisonment to allow stores to detain suspects.
Intentional torts {deceit} {fraud}| can be making false statements, knowing they are false, and making them to get someone to act or not act. Victims must have relied on statements to act or not act, and damages must result.
Consumers that have signed sales contracts can only break contracts for fraud, which is difficult and costly to prove. Seller deceptive practices do not allow buyers to break contracts.
People can deprive owners of personal-property use or possession {property conversion} {conversion of property}|. People must receive permission to use, change, or remove personal property. Even if people have legal possession of another's property, owners must consent to uses. However, conversions can have just causes.
types
Torts include altering, destroying, or disposing of personal property without owner consent. Torts include refusing to return personal property after owner demand, if demand is reasonable and owner identity is clear.
recovery
If owners recover converted property, owners can still sue, but damages decrease.
Copyrights apply to Literary works, musical works, dramatic works, pantomimes, choreographic works, video and sound recordings, art works, architectural plans, menus, product packaging, and computer software are owner property {copyright protection}|. Works must be original and be in "durable" media that allow communication. Copyright protection is automatic, so people do not need copyright registration.
People can steal small items from stores {shoplifting}|.
Customer lists, plans, research, development, pricing information, marketing techniques, and production techniques are personal property {trade secret}|. Company trade secrets can be anything valuable that competitors can use. Torts arise if people use or disclose trade secrets without permission after improper means of discovery or after receiving secret confidentially.
People can use trademarks without permission {trademark infringement}|.
People can take or use personal or real property {trespass}|, without depriving owners of property or use. Entering real private property without owner consent does not require harm to property to be trespass. Trespass committed by mistake is still trespass. Trespass happens when animals walk on property, people use shortcuts, and children play.
Intentional torts {communication, tort} can be communications to other people that result in, or tend to result in, defamation or ostracism.
Communications can result in, or tend to result in, avoidance and shunning {ostracism}|.
Communications can result in, or tend to result in, public hatred, shame, or ridicule {defamation}|. Slander and libel are different. Publication presumes libel damages, but plaintiff must prove slander damages. Actual statement truth is a defense, but belief in statement truth is not a defense. While performing their duties, judges, legislators, and executive officials have privilege of making defamatory statements. Individuals can freely comment on public officials' actions, as long as they intend no actual malice.
written defamation {libel, tort}|.
oral defamation {slander, defamation}|.
People who commit torts are responsible {liability, tort} for effects of wrongs. Liability includes intentional wrongs, negligent wrongs, and wrongs without fault.
States can make car owners liable for damages if drivers have owner consent. Heads of household can be liable for all family driving {family car doctrine}.
Actions can have foreseeable consequences, not directly intended {oblique intention}, which are people's responsibility.
Situations can have results that, by themselves {res ipsa loquitur} (things speak for themselves), infer or prove negligence, requiring no witnesses.
Liability can result if people did wrong for a purpose {intentional wrong}|.
Liability can result if people are not careful {negligent wrong}.
Liability can result if wrongs {wrong without fault} {liability without fault} happen on or with people's property. Wrongs without fault include damage caused by dangerous machines or objects, dangerous activities, and dangerous animals. If animal is not normally dangerous, liability results only if owner knew that it had become dangerous.
Liability without fault includes injuries to third parties caused by persons, to whom sellers sold intoxicants {Dram Shop laws}.
Defenses {tort, defenses} are against negligence and intentions.
negligence defenses
People claiming negligence can be negligent {contributory negligence}. The last person that can avoid the wrong is liable for it {last clear chance}, even if inattentiveness or contributory negligence caused plaintiffs not to escape. Proving contributory negligence causes no damage award in most states, except for gross negligence.
People can know risk exists but willingly do actions {risk assumption} {assumption of risk}.
In several states, parties can have different negligence degrees {comparative negligence}. Comparative negligence reduces damages defendant must pay in proportion to plaintiff's negligence.
intention defenses
Intention defenses are privilege, victim consent, self-defense, and property defense. These defenses admit tort but exempt defendant from paying damages.
Victims can implicitly or explicitly agree to acts {consent, victim}|.
Law enforcement officials have right to do their duties under law {legal justification}|.
Actions can be in the public interest {privilege}|.
Defendants have rights to perform actions to protect themselves from real or apparent danger {self-defense, person}|.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225