Torts

A Question and Answer session with Prof. McFarland, author of several of CALI's lessons in Tort Law and Civil Procedure. Prof. McFarland has been teaching for over 30 years.

This lesson identifies the law of the intentional tort of assault, and challenges the student to apply unusual fact situations to that law. The exercise explores the tort of assault as it has developed to cover modern settings.

A plaintiff who voluntarily assumes a risk of harm cannot recover for the negligent or reckless conduct that causes the harm: that is known as assumption of risk. It is a complete defense. This lesson explores the defense, which together with contributory negligence has been part of negligence law for more than a century-and-a-half. The border between the two classic negligence defenses is sometimes confusing, so questions navigate the differences. Also, the lesson considers the continuing vitality of the defense of assumption of risk when contributory negligence is rapidly being replaced by comparative negligence.

This lesson will cover the basic, common law elements of defamation. The discussion will review the defamatory statement, truth, and publication concerning the plaintiff. The lesson will also cover the basic issues in privileges. Although substantial Constitutional issues now exist with defamation, those problems will be covered in a separate lesson.

The Right of Privacy is actually four different torts. This lesson will cover the basic elements of Commercial Appropriation, Intrusion, Public Disclosure, and False Light. Although it is necessary to make references to the Constitutional issues raised with these claims, that issue will be discussed in more detail in a separate lesson.

Battery Basics is an introduction and initial exploration of the intentional tort of battery. It is designed primarily for students who want to test their basic knowledge of the tort, or who spent little or no time on intentional torts in class. Battery Basics identifies the elements of battery, requires application to some common fact situations, and responds to common misconceptions about the tort.

Battery Puzzlers is one of two lessons available from CALI on the intentional tort of battery. The other lesson, Battery Basics, is designed for students who will spend little time on battery in their classes or are uncomfortable with their understanding of the tort. It is designed to provide a solid understanding of battery.

This exercise begins by illustrating the distinction between cause in fact and legal or proximate cause and then utilizes questions intended to familiarize the student with the but for or sine qua non test and the substantial factor test. The exercise also covers issues relating to concurrent cause dilemmas and problems in identifying which harm was caused to the plaintiff by multiple negligent defendants.

This exercise builds upon the tutorial entitled Causation in Fact and that lesson should be completed prior to this exercise. In this exercise, the evidentiary burdens of proof are considered in relation to the use of direct and circumstantial evidence and the use of expert testimony. The exercises illuminate issues surrounding problems of proving who or what caused the plaintiff's harm. Burden shifting devices employed by courts in special situations are also considered.

This lesson covers the traditional negligence standard of care for children. It, of course, deals with the exceptional circumstances of when the adult standard applies to children. In addition, the lesson covers other diminished capacity examples, such as mental illness, physical disability, and intoxication.

This lesson covers the area traditionally known as "negligence per se." The problem of when can a civil or criminal statute be used as the standard of care in negligence cases is the primary matter discussed. The lesson gives some special attention to the "Dram Shop" example.

This lesson tries to explain Coasean irrelevance (which is often known as the "Coase Theorem").

This lesson considers the differences between the various comparative fault schemes found in different jurisdictions. It begins by considering in what respects the plaintiff's conduct is being compared with the defendant's conduct. Next, it introduces students to the three main types of comparative fault schemes before going on to illustrate when and how they lead to different results, with particular reference to aggregation of defendants' fault.

This interactive exercise addresses the topic of consent as a privilege or defense to various intentional tort claims. It begins with a consideration of how consent is determined to exist and then explores various applications of the defense in contexts such as medical encounters and sporting events. Consideration is given to how the courts have utilized the concept of consent in balancing the competing interests of the plaintiff and the defendant in relation to overarching policy goals.

This lesson assumes the basic issues in defamation have already been covered. Before working with this lesson, the lessons on Basic Issues in Defamation and Privileges and Libel and Slander should have already been reviewed. The material here will use that basic information to study the Constitutional issues that now control defamation. Among those issues are public and private figures, actual malice, burdens of proof, and damages.

The Right of Privacy, much like defamation, raises serious Constitutional issues. Those issues arise, primarily, with the tort of Public Disclosure and False Light. This lesson discusses the details raised by that Constitutional problem.

This lesson gives the student familiarity with contributory negligence, a defense to a negligence claim, and also with last clear chance, a "defense" to the defense. While these doctrines today are on the wane, students should be generally familiar with them for a full understanding of negligence and comparative negligence.

This lesson explores the cause of action of conversion as a means of compensation for intentional interferences with personal property. It will examine the several components of interest, invasion, conduct and remedy as the conceptual vehicles for study. Each section of the lesson will focus on one of these components, present the theory, and then give the student an opportunity to apply the theory or explore some of its ramifications.

This lesson covers the basic and specific measures of damages recoverable for tortious injuries to the interest in use and enjoyment of personal property. Students will be acquainted with conceptual and pragmatic problems of valuing the interest in use and enjoyment of personal property.

This lesson deals with basic and specific measures of damages recoverable in torts for harms to the interest in maintaining the physical integrity of personal property. Invasions of this interest are distinct from invasions of the interest in exclusive possession and the interest in use and enjoyment, and the law of damages reflects the differences. In order to deal effectively with the differences, separate lessons treat the interests in possession and use and enjoyment. The substance of causes of action available in torts for recovering damages is not treated here.

This lesson covers basic and specific measures of damages recoverable for tortious invasions of the interest in exclusive possession of personal property.

The student will be presented with concrete situations in which to consider application of rules and concepts of the law of damages. Analytically, invasions of the interest are separated into permanent deprivations and temporary deprivations and the different rules applicable to the two different contexts are explored.

This lesson deals with basic principles and measures of damages recoverable for harms to real property. The analysis to which students will be acquainted examines the harms in the context of three categories of interests to be protected by the law of damages. Those categories, which are separately treated in the lesson, are exclusive possession, physical integrity and use and enjoyment.

This lesson covers the common law rules and various statutory approaches governing recovery of damages for injuries resulting in death. Questions and problems in the lesson consider the circumstances under which and the extent to which damages are available to protect the interests of persons who die as a result of tortious injuries and the interests of the survivors of those persons.

This lesson covers the general principles and basic measures governing the remedy of damages for personal injuries. It explores issues and problems that confront a person seeking the damages remedy to address tortiously-inflicted physical harm.