Chapter 4 actionable Capable of serving as the basis of a lawsuit. An actionable claim can be pursued in a lawsuit or other court action. Actual malice The deliberate intent to cause harm that exists when a person makes a statement with either knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard of the truth. Actual malice is required to establish defamation against public figures. Appropriation In tort law, the use by one person of another person’s name, likeness, or other identifying characteristic without permission and for the benefit of the user. Assault NY word or action intended to make another person fearful of immediate physical harm?a reasonably believable threat. Assumption of risk a defense to negligence. A plaintiff may not recover for injuries or damage suffered from risks he or she knows of and has voluntarily assumed. Battery Unexcused, harmful or offensive, physical contact with another that is intentionally performed. Business invitee a person, such as a customer or a client, who is invited onto business premises by the owner of those premises for business purposes. Business tort Wrongful interference with another’s business rights and relationships.

Causation in fact an act or omission without which an event would not have occurred. Comparative negligence a rule in tort law, used in the majority of states, that reduces the plaintiffs recovery in proportion to the plaintiffs degree of fault, rather than barring recovery completely. Compensatory damages a monetary award equality to ten actual value AT lemurs or damage status n the aggrieved party. Contributory negligence A rule in tort law, used in only a few states, that completely bars the plaintiff from recovering any damages if the damages suffered is partly the plaintiffs own fault. Inversion Wrongfully taking or retaining possession of an individual’s personal property and placing it in the service of another. Cyber tort A tort committed in cyberspace. Damages A monetary award sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or a tortuous action. Defamation Anything published or publicly spoken that causes injury to another’s good name, reputation, or character. Defense A reason offered and alleged by a defendant in an action or lawsuit as to why the plaintiff should not recover or establish what she or he seeks. Spearmint of property An economically injurious falsehood about another’s product or property. Ram shop act A state statute that imposes liability on the owners of bars and taverns, as well as those who serve alcoholic drinks to the public, for injuries resulting from accidents caused by intoxicated persons when the sellers or servers of alcoholic drinks contributed to the intoxication. Duty of care The duty of all persons, as established by tort law, to exercise a reasonable amount of care in their dealings with others.

Failure to exercise due care, which is normally determined by the reasonable person standard, constitutes the tort of negligence. Fraudulent misrepresentation Any misrepresentation, either by misstatement or by omission of a material fact, knowingly made with the intention of deceiving another and on which a reasonable person would and does rely to his or her detriment. Good Samaritan statute A state statute stipulating that persons who provide emergency services to, or rescue, someone in peril cannot be sued for negligence unless they act recklessly, thereby casuals Turner unarm.

Intentional tort a wrongful act knowingly committed libel defamation in writing or another form having the quality of permanence (such as a chital recording) malpractice professional misconduct or the lack of the requisite degree of skill as a professional (negligence) negligence the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances negligence per SE an action or failure to act in violation of a statutory requirement privilege in tort law, immunity from liability for an action that would otherwise be a tort proximate cause legal cause.

It exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to Justify imposing liability. Puffery salesperson’s often exaggerated claims concerning the quality of property offered for sale. Such claims involve opinions rather than facts and are not legally binding promises or warranties. Punitive damages monetary damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future reasonable person standard the standard of behavior expected of a hypothetical “reasonable person’.

It is the standard against which negligence is measured and that must be observed to avoid liability fir negligence. Rest pips liqueur a doctrine under which negligence may be inferred simply because an event occurred, if it is the type of event that would not occur in the absence of negligence. Literally, the term means “the facts speak for themselves. Slander automation In oral Tort slander of quality (trade libel) the publication of false information about another’s product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims slander of title the publication of a statement that denies or casts doubt on another’s legal ownership of any property, causing financial loss to that property’s owner strict liability liability regardless of fault, which is imposed on those engaged in abnormally ungenerous activities, or persons who keep dangerous animals, and on manufactures or sellers that introduce into commerce defective and unreasonably dangerous goods tort a wrongful act (other than a breach of contract) that results in harm or injury to another and leads to civil liability toreadors one who commits a tort trespass to land entry onto, above, or below the surface of land owned by another without the owner’s permission or legal authorization trespass to personal property wrongfully taking or harming the personal property of another or otherwise interfering with the lawful owner’s possession of personal property