Table of Contents
Introduction vii
Chapter 1 Intentional Torts
1 The Concept of Intent 1
2 The Tort of Battery 5
3 The Tort of Assault 8
4 The Tort of False Imprisonment 11
5 The Tort of Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress 14
6 The Tort of Trespass to Land 18
7 Torts violating Interests in Personal Property 22
Chapter 2 Defenses to Intentional Torts
1 Consent 25
2 Self-Defense, Defense of Others, and Defense of Property 29
3 Public and Private Necessity 32
4 More Obscure Defenses 36
Chapter 3 Negligence: An Introduction and the Concept of Duty
1 An Introduction to Negligence 39
2 The Concept of a "Duty of Care" 41
3 The Reasonably Prudent Person Standard of Care 43
4 The Duty of Care of Children 48
5 The Duty of Care of Professionals 50
6 Duties of Possessors of Land (Premises Liability) 55
7 Duties Based on Criminal Statutes 63
8 The No-Duty-To-Rescue Rule 67
9 Duties To Prevent Emotional Harm 70
10 Duties to Guard Against Harm Caused By Third Parties 74
11 Duties Owed to Unborn Children 78
12 Duty of Care of the Government 80
13 Family and Charitable Immunity 83
Chapter 4 Negligence: The Breach Element
1 The Two Aspects of Proving Breach of Duty 85
2 The Relationship Between Duty and Breach 86
3 Assessing Reasonableness By Considering Custom 87
4 Assessing Reasonableness By Considering Costs and Benefits 89
5 Assessing Reasonableness By Appealing To Jury Intuition 92
6 Res Ipsa Loquitur 94
Chapter 5 Negligence: Factual Causation
1 The Basic Test-The "But-For" Rule 99
2 The Special Situation of Merged Causes 102
3 Unascertainable Causes 104
4 The "Loss of Chance" Cases 106
Chapter 6 Negligence: Proximate Cause
1 An Introduction 109
2 Really Silly Ideas For a Proximate Cause Test 112
3 Foreseeability As the Measure of Defendant's Liability 114
4 An Obsolete Rule and Its Rhetorical Legacy 116
5 Why It Gets Fuzzy: Characterizing the Risk 123
Chapter 7 Negligence: Damages
1 Types of Damages Recoverable 127
2 The "Eggshell Skull" Principle 131
3 Allocation of Damages Between Multiple Defendants 132
4 The Collateral Source Rule 135
5 The Economic Loss Rule 136
Chapter 8 Defenses to Negligence Claims
1 Historical Evolution of Negligence Defenses 139
2 The Mostly Obsolete Defense of Contributory Negligence 140
3 The Mostly Obsolete Defense of Implied Assumption of the Risk 142
4 Primary Assumption of the Risk 144
5 Comparative Negligence 146
Chapter 9 Strict Liability For Defective Products
1 Introductory Observations 151
2 Defendant Must Be a Merchant 152
3 The Product Must Be Defective 153
4 The Product Must Not Have Been Altered 157
5 The User was Making a Foreseeable Use of the Product 158
6 Defenses to Strict Products Liability Claims 159
Chapter 10 Other Strict Liability Claims
1 Abnormally Dangerous Activities 161
2 Keeping Animals 163
Chapter 11 Dignitary, Economic and Other Torts
1 Defamation 165
2 Defenses to Defamation Claims 170
3 The Public Concern Defamation Scenario 172
4 The Four Privacy Torts 175
5 Nuisance 179
6 Business Torts 181
Chapter 12 Vicarious Liability and Other Miscellaneous Topics
1 Employer Liability for Employee Torts 187
2 Independent Contractors 190
3 Other Potential Vicarious Liability Scenarios 192
4 Wrongful Death and Survival Statutes 193
5 Loss of Consortium 195
