Business Law Study Guide

Ch. 7: Negligence: Elements of a claim: 1. D owed a duty of care to the P 2. breached that duty 3. Breach was the actual & proximate cause of the injury. Duty & Breach of Duty: 1. Person must act as a reasonable person would’ve in the situation 2. P must establish that defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would’ve 3. Defendant owed duty to plaintiff if he was among those who would foreseeably be at risk of harm from the behavior 4.Breach of duty: actions compared to those of a reasonable person, focuses on defendant’s behavior rather than mental state 5. Most important consideration in breach of duty: reasonable foreseeability of harm. Ex. falling asleep at the wheel: foreseeable risk of harm to others BUT a blackout while driving  not foreseeable Also considered: magnitude & social utility & ease of avoiding risk Personal characteristics are also considered: Context considered: emergency vs. time to make judgment call. Special duties, Duties to Persons on property Premises liability cases, involve possessors of land & those who enter it. Entering party classifications: Invitees: Business visitors, people using public property Licensees: possessor must give consent, enter for purposes other than to do business Trespassers: Neg. per se: D’s violation of reasonable behavior may cause a breach of duty & may allow P to win if: Was within the class of persons intended to be protected by the statute, suffered harm that statute was intended to protect against. Causation of injury: physical injury, Property damage * usually only compensatory damages are recoverable, some courts allow recovery for emotional damages but require that physical injury resulted. The causation link Was the breach the actual cause of injury? Was it the proximate cause? Was there any intervening cause? Actual cause - But-for test – plaintiff would not have been hurt if it wasn’t for the defendant’s actions. Proximate cause no liability if injuries were remote, consequences must be