Full Outline Structure
A hierarchical breakdown of every topic your Torts outline should cover.
1
Intentional Torts
Battery, Assault & False Imprisonment
- Battery — intentional harmful or offensive contact with plaintiff's person (Vosburg v. Putney); transferred intent applies
- Assault — intentional act creating reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful/offensive contact; words alone generally insufficient without overt act
- False imprisonment — intentional confinement within bounded area; plaintiff must be aware or harmed; moral pressure insufficient
- Transferred intent doctrine — intent transfers across five intentional torts and across persons
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
- Extreme and outrageous conduct — beyond all bounds of decency tolerated in civilized society
- Intent or recklessness as to causing severe emotional distress
- Severe emotional distress — more than trivial; bodily harm not required in most jurisdictions
- Bystander recovery — present at the time, close family member, defendant knew of presence
Trespass to Land & Chattels, Conversion
- Trespass to land — intentional physical invasion of plaintiff's land; no harm required; actionable per se
- Trespass to chattels — intentional interference with plaintiff's possessory interest causing damage or deprivation
- Conversion — intentional exercise of dominion or control over chattel seriously interfering with owner's rights; remedy is forced sale (fair market value)
- Trespass to chattels vs. conversion — degree of interference (duration, harm, intent to assert ownership)
Defenses to Intentional Torts
- Consent — express or implied; invalid if induced by fraud, duress, or incapacity
- Self-defense — reasonable force proportional to threat; duty to retreat in minority of jurisdictions
- Defense of others — same rules as self-defense; reasonable mistake about need for defense
- Defense of property — reasonable non-deadly force; no spring guns or deadly traps (Katko v. Briney)
- Necessity — public necessity (complete defense) vs. private necessity (must pay for actual damages, Vincent v. Lake Erie)
2
Negligence
Duty
- General duty of reasonable care to foreseeable plaintiffs (Cardozo in Palsgraf — duty limited to zone of danger)
- Andrews dissent — duty owed to the world at large; proximate cause limits liability
- No duty to rescue — exceptions for special relationships, creation of peril, undertaking to rescue
- Landowner duties — traditional categories (trespasser, licensee, invitee) vs. Rowland v. Christian general reasonableness
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress — zone of danger test vs. Dillon v. Legg foreseeability factors vs. Thing v. La Chusa requirements
Breach
- Reasonable person standard — objective, no allowance for stupidity; adjusted for physical disability but not mental
- Hand Formula — B < P × L (burden of precaution less than probability of harm times magnitude of loss)
- Custom — evidence of reasonableness but not dispositive (The T.J. Hooper — industry custom may be unreasonable)
- Negligence per se — violation of statute sets standard of care if plaintiff is in protected class and harm is of type statute designed to prevent
- Res ipsa loquitur — accident type that ordinarily does not occur without negligence, instrumentality in defendant's exclusive control, no plaintiff contribution
Causation
- Cause in fact — but-for test; substantial factor test for multiple sufficient causes (Anderson v. Minneapolis)
- Alternative liability — Summers v. Tice (burden shifts when multiple defendants, one caused harm)
- Market share liability — DES cases (Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories)
- Loss of chance doctrine — reduced probability of better outcome as compensable harm
- Proximate cause — foreseeability of type of harm; direct cause vs. intervening cause analysis
Proximate Cause & Intervening Acts
- Foreseeable type of harm to foreseeable plaintiff (majority approach)
- Eggshell plaintiff rule — take the plaintiff as you find them (Vosburg v. Putney applies)
- Superseding cause — unforeseeable intervening act that breaks the causal chain
- Foreseeable intervening acts — negligence of third parties, medical malpractice, rescue attempts — do not break chain
- Criminal acts of third parties — generally superseding unless foreseeable (e.g., inadequate security)
Damages
- Compensatory — economic (medical, lost wages, property) and non-economic (pain and suffering, consortium)
- Collateral source rule — benefits from third parties do not reduce defendant's liability
- Mitigation — plaintiff must take reasonable steps to minimize damages
- Wrongful death — statutory claim by survivors for their losses; survival action continues decedent's claims
3
Strict Liability
Abnormally Dangerous Activities
- Restatement 2d §520 six-factor test — high risk, gravity of harm, inability to eliminate risk, uncommon usage, inappropriateness to location, value to community
- Restatement 3d simplification — significant risk of physical harm even with reasonable care, not a matter of common usage
- Common examples — blasting, storing explosives, fumigation, crop dusting
- Plaintiff must be injured by the type of risk that makes the activity abnormally dangerous
Animals
- Wild animals — strict liability for injuries characteristic of the species
- Domestic animals — strict liability only if owner knows of dangerous propensities (one-bite rule in some jurisdictions)
- Dog-bite statutes — many states impose strict liability regardless of knowledge
4
Products Liability
Theories of Recovery
- Strict liability (Restatement 2d §402A) — product in defective condition unreasonably dangerous to user/consumer
- Restatement 3d — manufacturing defect, design defect, warning defect (each with distinct tests)
- Negligence — manufacturer/seller failed to exercise reasonable care
- Breach of warranty — express (2-313) and implied (merchantability 2-314, fitness 2-315)
Types of Defects
- Manufacturing defect — product departs from intended design; strict liability; no need to prove negligence
- Design defect — consumer expectations test vs. risk-utility test (Barker v. Lull; burden shifts to defendant in some jurisdictions)
- Warning/marketing defect — inadequate instructions or failure to warn of foreseeable risks; learned intermediary doctrine for prescription drugs
- Post-sale duty to warn — emerging trend when manufacturer learns of defect after sale
Defenses in Products Liability
- Comparative fault — applies in most jurisdictions to reduce plaintiff's recovery
- Product misuse — foreseeable misuse does not bar recovery; unforeseeable misuse may be complete defense
- Assumption of risk — knowing and voluntary encounter with product danger
- Learned intermediary doctrine — manufacturer discharges duty by warning prescribing physician
5
Defamation & Privacy Torts
Defamation
- Elements — defamatory statement of fact, publication to third party, concerning plaintiff, damages, and fault
- Libel (written) vs. slander (spoken) — libel generally actionable per se; slander requires special damages unless per se categories
- Slander per se — business/profession, loathsome disease, crime of moral turpitude, serious sexual misconduct
- Constitutional overlay — public officials/figures must prove actual malice (NYT v. Sullivan); private plaintiffs need negligence (Gertz)
- Defenses — truth (absolute), privilege (absolute for judicial/legislative; qualified for good faith statements on matters of interest)
Privacy Torts
- Intrusion upon seclusion — intentional intrusion into private affairs, objectionable to reasonable person
- Public disclosure of private facts — widespread publication of private information, highly offensive, not newsworthy
- False light — publicizing matter placing plaintiff in false light, highly offensive, with knowledge or reckless disregard of falsity
- Appropriation — unauthorized use of plaintiff's name or likeness for commercial advantage
6
Nuisance & Vicarious Liability
Nuisance
- Private nuisance — substantial and unreasonable interference with plaintiff's use and enjoyment of land
- Public nuisance — unreasonable interference with right common to general public; private plaintiff needs special injury
- Balancing test — gravity of harm vs. utility of conduct (Restatement factors)
- Remedies — damages, injunction, or self-help (abatement)
Vicarious Liability
- Respondeat superior — employer liable for employee's torts within scope of employment
- Frolic vs. detour — detour still within scope; frolic is outside scope
- Independent contractor — general rule of no vicarious liability; exceptions for non-delegable duties and inherently dangerous activities
- Joint and several liability — each defendant liable for entire harm if indivisible injury
7
Defenses & Comparative Fault
Contributory & Comparative Negligence
- Contributory negligence — complete bar in minority of jurisdictions (harsh rule)
- Pure comparative fault — plaintiff's recovery reduced by percentage of fault (even if 99% at fault)
- Modified comparative fault — plaintiff barred if 50% or 51% at fault (varies by jurisdiction)
- Last clear chance doctrine — mitigates contributory negligence if defendant had last opportunity to avoid harm
Assumption of Risk
- Express assumption — valid contractual waiver unless unconscionable or against public policy
- Implied primary assumption — no duty owed (inherent risks of activity, e.g., sports)
- Implied secondary assumption — knowing and voluntary encounter; merges with comparative fault in many jurisdictions
- Firefighter's rule — professional rescuers cannot recover for risks inherent in their profession
Immunities & Statutes of Limitations
- Governmental immunity — federal (FTCA exceptions); state (varies widely); discretionary function exception
- Interspousal and parent-child immunity — largely abolished in most jurisdictions
- Charitable immunity — mostly abolished; some states retain partial immunity
- Statutes of limitations — discovery rule tolls statute until plaintiff knew or should have known of injury
Outlining Tips for Torts
Always start your negligence analysis with duty — it is the threshold question and many exam issues turn on whether a duty exists at all
Master the causation frameworks — but-for, substantial factor, and alternative liability come up repeatedly and students commonly confuse them
Products liability questions require you to analyze all three defect types and all theories of recovery — do not stop at the first one that fits
Keep a clear chart distinguishing the four privacy torts — they are frequently tested together and easy to conflate
Pay attention to the interplay between strict liability and negligence defenses — comparative fault applies differently depending on the theory
For defamation, always classify the plaintiff (public official, public figure, private figure) first — it determines the fault standard
Practice writing out the full negligence analysis (duty, breach, actual cause, proximate cause, damages) — speed and structure matter on timed exams
Recommended Length
45-65 pages
A thorough Torts outline typically runs 45-65 pages and covers all 7 major sections with key rules, leading cases, and professor-specific notes. Start with this template and expand each section with your class notes, case briefs, and hypotheticals from lecture.