AMERICAN LAW

MODULE 1: TORT LAW

TORT LAW: A civil wrong which can be redressed by awarding damages.

BATTERY: The intentional causation of harmful or offensive contact with

another's person without that person's consent. This is an example of an
intentional tort.

COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE: A tort rule for allocating damages when both

parties are at least somewhat at fault. In a situation where both the plaintiff
and the defendant were negligent, the jury allocates fault, usually as a
percentage (for example, a jury might find that the plaintiff was 30% at fault
and the defendant was 70% at fault). This system has replaced the old rule of
contributory negligence.

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE: A plaintiff was totally barred from recovery if

they were in any way negligent in causing the accident, even if the
negligence of the defendant was much more serious. Today, the more
common rule is comparative negligence.

DAMAGES: In tort law, a remedy in the form of monetary compensation to the

harmed party.

FAULT: In civil law - negligence, want of care, an improper act or omission,

injurious to another, and transpiring through negligence, rashness, or
ignorance.

INTENTIONAL TORT: A type of tort that can only result from an intentional act
of the defendant (as opposed to a negligent one).

NEGLIGENCE: A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of

ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The

behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when
there is some duty to act (e.g., a duty to help victims of one's previous
conduct).

PRODUCTS LIABILITY: American law holds the manufacturers of consumer

products strictly liable for injuries caused by manufacturing defects.

PUNITIVE DAMAGES: Punitive damages are awarded in addition to actual

damages in certain circumstances. Punitive damages are considered
punishment and are awarded when the defendant's behavior is found to be
especially harmful, but are normally not awarded in the context of a breach of
contract claim.

RES IPSA LOQUITER: Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." In tort, a principle
that allows plaintiffs to meet their burden of proof with what is, in effect,
circumstantial evidence. The plaintiff can create a rebuttable presumption of
negligence by the defendant by proving that the harm would not ordinarily
have occurred without negligence, that the object that caused the harm was
under the defendant's control, and that there are no other plausible
explanations.

STRICT LIABILITY: Rule providing that if you cause an injury by a deliberate

act, even if you did not mean to cause injury and were careful, you are liable
to compensate the injured party.