WITH ALL CORRECT ANSWERS
GRADED A+
A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or state level. - Answer-
Statute
Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for
future cases. - Answer-Common law (case law)
A standard for the degree of care exercised in a situation that is measured by what a
reasonably cautious person would or would not do under similar circumstances. -
Answer-Reasonable person test
Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of
the public seeking their offered services. - Answer-Common carriers
A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any new and
independent cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have
happened. - Answer-Proximate cause
A rule used to determine whether a defendant's act was the proximate cause of a
plaintiff's harm based on the determination that the plaintiff's harm could not have
occurred but for the defendant's act. - Answer-"But for" rule
A rule used to determine proximate cause of a loss by determining which of the acts are
significant factors in causing the harm. - Answer-Substantial factor rule
A rule used to determine proximate cause when a plaintiff's harm is the natural and
probable consequence of the defendant's wrongful act and when an ordinarily
reasonable person would have foreseen the harm. - Answer-Foreseeability rule
An act, independent of an original act and not readily foreseeable, that breaks the chain
of causation and sets a new chain of events in motion that causes harm. - Answer-
Intervening act
A legal doctrine stating that if a loss can be attributed to two or more independent
concurrent causes—one or more excluded by the policy and one covered—then the
policy covers the loss. - Answer-Concurrent causation (concurrent causation doctrine)
,An act that is considered inherently negligent because of a violation of a law or an
ordinance. - Answer-Negligence per se
A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances, negligence is inferred simply
by an accident occurring. - Answer-Res ipsa loquitur
The control of only one person or entity; in tort law the control by the defendant alone of
an instrument that caused harm. - Answer-Exclusive control
A common-law principle that requires both parties to a loss to share the financial burden
of the bodily injury or property damage according to their respective degrees of fault. -
Answer-Comparative negligence
A common-law principle that prevents a person who has been harmed from recovering
damages if that person's own negligence contributed in any way to the harm. - Answer-
Contributory negligence
An excuse for a plaintiff's contributory negligence that holds the party who has the last
clear chance to avoid harm and fails to do so solely responsible for the harm. - Answer-
Last clear chance doctrine
A defense to negligence that bars a plaintiff's recovery for harm caused by the
defendant's negligence if the plaintiff voluntarily incurred the risk of harm. - Answer-
Assumption-of-risk defense
A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover damages discounted by
his or her own percentage of negligence, as long as the plaintiff is not 100 percent at
fault. - Answer-Pure comparative negligence rule
A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so
long as the plaintiff's negligence is not greater than the other party's negligence. -
Answer-50 percent comparative negligence rule
A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so
long as the plaintiff's negligence is less than the other party's negligence. - Answer-49
percent comparative negligence rule
A rule of comparative negligence that permits the plaintiff to recover only when the
plaintiff's negligence is slight in comparison with the gross negligence of the other party.
- Answer-Slight versus gross rule
A legally binding contract between the parties to a dispute that embodies their
agreement, obligates each to fulfill the agreement, and releases both parties from
further obligation to one another that relates to the dispute. - Answer-Release
, A contractual provision purporting to excuse a party from liability resulting from
negligence or an otherwise wrongful act. - Answer-Exculpatory clause (exculpatory
agreement)
An act or omission that completely disregards the safety or rights of others and is
exaggerated or aggravated in nature. - Answer-Gross negligence
A defense that, in certain instances, shields organizations or persons from liability. -
Answer-Immunity
A defense to negligence that protects the government against lawsuits for tort without its
consent. - Answer-Sovereign immunity (governmental immunity)
A local government's act that is not considered part of the business of government and
that could be performed by a private enterprise. - Answer-Proprietary function
An act that can be performed only by government. - Answer-Governmental function
An act, a decision, a recommendation, or an omission made by a government official or
agency within the authority of that office or agency. - Answer-Administrative act
(discretionary act)
An act that is directed by law or other authority and that requires no individual judgment
or discretion about whether or how to perform it. - Answer-Ministerial act
A defense that shields charitable organizations from liability. - Answer-Charitable
immunity
A defense to negligence that grants immunity to one spouse from the other spouse's
lawsuit for torts committed before, during, and after the marriage. - Answer-Interspousal
immunity
A defense to negligence that grants immunity to parents from their children's lawsuits for
torts. - Answer-Parent-child immunity
A statute that requires a plaintiff to file a lawsuit within a specific time period after the
cause of action has accrued, which is often when the injury occurred or was discovered.
- Answer-Statute of limitations
A statute that requires a plaintiff to file a lawsuit within a specific time period after a
wrongful act by a defendant, such as improper construction of a building, regardless of
when the injury occurred or was discovered. - Answer-Statute of repose
A person who intentionally enters onto the property of another without permission or any
legal right to do so. - Answer-Trespasser