BUL 3130 STUDY GUIDE SET QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Unintentional tort - ✔✔A doctrine that says a person is liable for harm that is the
foreseeable consequence of his or her actions.
Ordinary negligence or negligence.
✔✔elements of a negligence claim - ✔✔1) The defendant owed a duty of care to the
plaintiff
2) the defendant breached this duty of care
3) the plaintiff suffered injury
4) the defendant's negligent act was the actual cause of the plaintiff's injury,
5) the defendant's negligent act was the proximate cause (or legal cause) of the
plaintiff's injuries.
The defendant is liable only for the foreseeable consequences of his/her negligent act.
✔✔Negligence Per Se - ✔✔A tort in which the violation of a statute or an ordinance
constitutes the breach of the duty of care.
✔✔Res Ispa Loquitur - ✔✔A tort in which the presumption of negligence arises because
(1) the defendant was in exclusive control of the situation (2) the plaintiff would not have
suffered injury but for someone's negligence. The burden switches to the defendant to
prove that he or she was not negligent.
✔✔Supervening event - ✔✔An alteration or a modification of a product by a party in the
chain of distribution that absolves all prior sellers from strict liability.
✔✔What do Good Samaritan laws do? - ✔✔Relieve medical professionals from liability
for injury cause by their ordinary negligence in situations like a road side emergency.
, ✔✔Assumption of risk - ✔✔A defense that a defendant can use against a plaintiff who
knowingly and voluntarily enters into or participates in a risky activity that results in
injury.
✔✔What is the difference between comparative negligence and contributory
negligence? - ✔✔Contributory negligence is a doctrine that says that a plaintiff who is
partially at fault for his or her own injury cannot recover against the negligent defendant.
ex. 80% speeding driver, 20% jaywalking pedestrian. 100,000 in injuries. Pedestrian
cannot recover damages.
Contributory is a doctrine under which damages are apportioned according to fault.
ex: pedestrian can recover 80,000 or 80% of his damages.
✔✔Someone who is injured by a product that he/she purchased new could recover on
the basis of: - ✔✔breach of warranty, negligence, or strict liability
✔✔What must a plaintiff prove to win a claim of strict liability - ✔✔injury
✔✔Which parties in the chain of distribution are potentially liable under strict liability -
✔✔all in the chain of distribution are liable.
✔✔What test do the courts apply when determining the adequacy of a product's
design? - ✔✔risk-utility analysis
✔✔What is the significance of a "defect" in a products liability case based on strict
liability? - ✔✔a required element is proof of a defect
✔✔What are the most common types of defects in product liability? - ✔✔1) manufacture
2)design
3)failure to warn
4) packaging
✔✔Is the manufacturer liable whenever a product is misused? - ✔✔No
✔✔What are commonly recognized defenses in product liability? - ✔✔Generally known
danger, abnormal misuse of a product, and supervening event.
✔✔What is the primary source of criminal law? - ✔✔Statutes
✔✔In a criminal lawsuit, who is the plaintiff? - ✔✔The government
✔✔What is "mens rea" - ✔✔Criminal intent
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Unintentional tort - ✔✔A doctrine that says a person is liable for harm that is the
foreseeable consequence of his or her actions.
Ordinary negligence or negligence.
✔✔elements of a negligence claim - ✔✔1) The defendant owed a duty of care to the
plaintiff
2) the defendant breached this duty of care
3) the plaintiff suffered injury
4) the defendant's negligent act was the actual cause of the plaintiff's injury,
5) the defendant's negligent act was the proximate cause (or legal cause) of the
plaintiff's injuries.
The defendant is liable only for the foreseeable consequences of his/her negligent act.
✔✔Negligence Per Se - ✔✔A tort in which the violation of a statute or an ordinance
constitutes the breach of the duty of care.
✔✔Res Ispa Loquitur - ✔✔A tort in which the presumption of negligence arises because
(1) the defendant was in exclusive control of the situation (2) the plaintiff would not have
suffered injury but for someone's negligence. The burden switches to the defendant to
prove that he or she was not negligent.
✔✔Supervening event - ✔✔An alteration or a modification of a product by a party in the
chain of distribution that absolves all prior sellers from strict liability.
✔✔What do Good Samaritan laws do? - ✔✔Relieve medical professionals from liability
for injury cause by their ordinary negligence in situations like a road side emergency.
, ✔✔Assumption of risk - ✔✔A defense that a defendant can use against a plaintiff who
knowingly and voluntarily enters into or participates in a risky activity that results in
injury.
✔✔What is the difference between comparative negligence and contributory
negligence? - ✔✔Contributory negligence is a doctrine that says that a plaintiff who is
partially at fault for his or her own injury cannot recover against the negligent defendant.
ex. 80% speeding driver, 20% jaywalking pedestrian. 100,000 in injuries. Pedestrian
cannot recover damages.
Contributory is a doctrine under which damages are apportioned according to fault.
ex: pedestrian can recover 80,000 or 80% of his damages.
✔✔Someone who is injured by a product that he/she purchased new could recover on
the basis of: - ✔✔breach of warranty, negligence, or strict liability
✔✔What must a plaintiff prove to win a claim of strict liability - ✔✔injury
✔✔Which parties in the chain of distribution are potentially liable under strict liability -
✔✔all in the chain of distribution are liable.
✔✔What test do the courts apply when determining the adequacy of a product's
design? - ✔✔risk-utility analysis
✔✔What is the significance of a "defect" in a products liability case based on strict
liability? - ✔✔a required element is proof of a defect
✔✔What are the most common types of defects in product liability? - ✔✔1) manufacture
2)design
3)failure to warn
4) packaging
✔✔Is the manufacturer liable whenever a product is misused? - ✔✔No
✔✔What are commonly recognized defenses in product liability? - ✔✔Generally known
danger, abnormal misuse of a product, and supervening event.
✔✔What is the primary source of criminal law? - ✔✔Statutes
✔✔In a criminal lawsuit, who is the plaintiff? - ✔✔The government
✔✔What is "mens rea" - ✔✔Criminal intent
