Outline of Tort Law - Liability, Defenses, Remedies

Liability, Defenses, Remedies

Comparative negligence: A partial defense that reduces the amount of damages a plaintiff can claim based upon the degree to which the plaintiff's own negligence contributed to the damages.

Contributory negligence: A defense based on negligence of the plaintiff wherein the plaintiff's actions caused the event which drew the suit. An example of this is a pedestrian crossing a road carelessly and was hit by a driver driving carelessly.

Last clear chance: Doctrine under which a plaintiff can recover against comparative and contributory negligence defenses if they can demonstrate that the defendant had the last opportunity to avoid the accident.

Eggshell skull: Doctrine under which an individual is held liable for all consequences resulting from his actions even if the victim suffers an unusually high levels of damage (i.e., a pre-existing vulnerability or medical condition). The term comes an example argument that if a person had a skull as delicate as the shell of an egg, and an assailant was unaware of that condition hit that person on the head and it subsequently broke, the responsible party should be liable for all damages resulting from the content.

Vicarious liability: A form of strict secondary liability arising from respondeat superior. The responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinates, under which, they are responsible for negligent acts committed by their employees during the course of their employment.

Volenti non fit injuria: Latin for "To a willing person, no injury is done", this common law doctrine means that if someone willingly puts themselves in a position where harm might result, they can not sue if harm occurs. That is, a boxer consents to being hit, and the injuries related to boxing are thus not actionable (although if his opponent were to hit him with an iron bar, that would be actionable as he did not know such things would occur).

Ex turpi causa non oritur actio: "From a dishonorable cause an action does not arise". In The United States, this legal doctrine is more commonly known as equitability of unclean hands, and it prevents a criminal from bringing a claim against another criminal.