Week-by-Week Schedule
Intentional Torts: Battery and Assault
Week 1 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 13-20; Vosburg v. Putney, 80 Wis. 523 (1891); Garratt v. Dailey, 46 Wash.2d 197 (1955); Casebook Ch. 1
Key Concepts to Master
- Intent: purpose or substantial certainty (Garratt v. Dailey)
- Battery: harmful or offensive contact with the person of another
- Transferred intent doctrine across five trespassory torts
- Assault: reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact
- Eggshell skull rule for intentional torts
Study Tasks
- Brief Vosburg v. Putney and Garratt v. Dailey
- Create flashcards for the elements of battery and assault
- Diagram the transferred intent doctrine showing all five applicable torts
- Practice a cold call on a hypothetical workplace battery claim
False Imprisonment and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Week 2 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 35-45A; Big Town Nursing Home, Inc. v. Newman, 461 S.W.2d 195 (Tex. Civ. App. 1970); Wilkinson v. Downton [1897] 2 QB 57; Harris v. Jones, 380 A.2d 611 (Md. 1977); Casebook Ch. 2
Key Concepts to Master
- False imprisonment: confinement, bounded area, awareness or harm
- Means of confinement: physical barriers, threats, invalid legal authority
- IIED elements: extreme and outrageous conduct, intent or recklessness, severe emotional distress
- The outrageousness standard and its application to employers, common carriers, and innkeepers
- NIED as a separate claim: zone of danger and bystander rules
Study Tasks
- Brief Big Town Nursing Home v. Newman for false imprisonment
- Create a comparison chart: false imprisonment vs. kidnapping vs. false arrest
- Write a practice essay analyzing an IIED claim against an employer
- Create flashcards for IIED elements and heightened duty relationships
Trespass to Land, Trespass to Chattels, and Conversion
Week 3 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 158-175, 217-222, 222A-228; Intel Corp. v. Hamidi, 30 Cal.4th 1342 (2003); Casebook Ch. 2-3
Key Concepts to Master
- Trespass to land: physical invasion, intent to enter (not intent to trespass)
- Trespass to chattels vs. conversion: intermeddling vs. dominion
- Conversion: substantial interference with right to possession
- Remedies: nominal damages (trespass), fair market value (conversion)
- Defenses to intentional torts: consent, self-defense, defense of others, necessity
- Public vs. private necessity (Vincent v. Lake Erie)
Study Tasks
- Brief Intel Corp. v. Hamidi on electronic trespass to chattels
- Brief Vincent v. Lake Erie on private necessity
- Create a spectrum from trespass to chattels to conversion with examples
- Create flashcards for all intentional tort defenses and their elements
Negligence: Duty of Care
Week 4 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm §§ 6-7; Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., 248 N.Y. 339 (1928); Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425 (1976); Casebook Ch. 4
Key Concepts to Master
- General duty of reasonable care under the circumstances
- Cardozo (foreseeable plaintiff) vs. Andrews (duty to the world) in Palsgraf
- Special duty rules: landowners (trespasser, licensee, invitee), rescuers, common carriers
- Affirmative duty: no duty to rescue (absent special relationship)
- Special relationships creating affirmative duties (Tarasoff)
- Negligent infliction of emotional distress standards
Study Tasks
- Brief Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad and compare Cardozo and Andrews opinions
- Brief Tarasoff v. Regents and analyze the special relationship doctrine
- Create a flowchart for duty analysis under negligence
- Create flashcards for the landowner duty categories
Negligence: Breach, Custom, and Negligence Per Se
Week 5 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts §§ 3, 13-14; United States v. Carroll Towing Co., 159 F.2d 169 (2d Cir. 1947); The T.J. Hooper, 60 F.2d 737 (2d Cir. 1932); Martin v. Herzog, 228 N.Y. 164 (1920); Casebook Ch. 5
Key Concepts to Master
- Reasonable person standard and its objective nature
- Hand Formula: B < P × L (burden vs. probability times loss)
- Custom as evidence of standard of care (T.J. Hooper: custom is not dispositive)
- Medical malpractice: standard of the profession
- Negligence per se: violation of statute, plaintiff in protected class, harm of the type statute aimed to prevent
- Res ipsa loquitur: exclusive control, does not ordinarily happen without negligence
Study Tasks
- Brief United States v. Carroll Towing and apply the Hand Formula to a hypothetical
- Brief The T.J. Hooper and explain why custom is not conclusive
- Create flashcards for the elements of negligence per se and res ipsa loquitur
- Practice a cold call applying the reasonable person standard
Causation: Actual Cause (Cause-in-Fact)
Week 6 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts §§ 26-27; Perkins v. Texas & New Orleans Railway Co., 243 La. 829 (1962); Summers v. Tice, 33 Cal.2d 80 (1948); Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories, 26 Cal.3d 588 (1980); Casebook Ch. 6
Key Concepts to Master
- But-for causation as the default test
- Substantial factor test for concurrent causes
- Alternative liability when cause is uncertain (Summers v. Tice)
- Market share liability (Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories)
- Loss of chance doctrine in medical malpractice
- Multiple sufficient causes (two fires hypothetical)
Study Tasks
- Brief Summers v. Tice and explain the burden-shifting rationale
- Brief Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories and evaluate market share liability
- Create a flowchart for actual cause analysis with multiple defendants
- Create flashcards for each alternative causation theory
Causation: Proximate Cause and Scope of Liability
Week 7 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts §§ 29-34; Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., 248 N.Y. 339 (1928); Wagon Mound (No. 1) [1961] AC 388; Casebook Ch. 7
Key Concepts to Master
- Proximate cause as a policy limitation on liability
- Foreseeability test (Wagon Mound approach)
- Direct cause test (Polemis approach, largely rejected)
- Intervening and superseding causes
- Eggshell skull rule: take your plaintiff as you find them
- Rescuer doctrine and danger invites rescue
Study Tasks
- Reread Palsgraf through the lens of proximate cause (Andrews dissent)
- Create a flowchart for proximate cause analysis including intervening causes
- Write a practice essay analyzing a chain of events for foreseeability
- Create flashcards for the factors distinguishing intervening from superseding causes
Damages and Defenses to Negligence
Week 8 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Apportionment §§ 1-8; Seffert v. Los Angeles Transit Lines, 56 Cal.2d 498 (1961); Li v. Yellow Cab Co. of California, 13 Cal.3d 804 (1975); Casebook Ch. 8-9
Key Concepts to Master
- Compensatory damages: economic and non-economic
- Collateral source rule
- Contributory negligence as complete bar (minority rule)
- Comparative negligence: pure vs. modified (50% and 51% rules)
- Assumption of risk: express and implied (primary vs. secondary)
- Joint and several liability vs. several liability
Study Tasks
- Brief Li v. Yellow Cab and analyze the shift to comparative negligence
- Create a comparison chart of contributory vs. comparative negligence systems
- Calculate damages in a multi-defendant comparative fault scenario
- Create flashcards for types of damages and affirmative defenses
Strict Liability: Abnormally Dangerous Activities and Animals
Week 9 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm §§ 20-24; Rylands v. Fletcher [1868] UKHL 1; Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad v. American Cyanamid Co., 916 F.2d 1174 (7th Cir. 1990); Casebook Ch. 10
Key Concepts to Master
- Strict liability: liability without fault
- Abnormally dangerous activities six-factor test (Restatement Second § 520)
- Restatement Third simplified two-factor approach
- Wild animals vs. domestic animals with known dangerous propensities
- Defenses to strict liability: assumption of risk, but not contributory negligence
- Posner's economic analysis in Indiana Harbor Belt
Study Tasks
- Brief Rylands v. Fletcher and compare to the American approach
- Brief Indiana Harbor Belt and analyze Posner's negligence-vs-strict-liability reasoning
- Create a chart comparing negligence, strict liability, and intentional tort frameworks
- Create flashcards for the six factors of abnormally dangerous activities
Products Liability
Week 10 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability §§ 1-8; MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co., 217 N.Y. 382 (1916); Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc., 59 Cal.2d 57 (1963); Casebook Ch. 11
Key Concepts to Master
- Three theories: manufacturing defect, design defect, failure to warn
- Consumer expectation test vs. risk-utility test for design defects
- Reasonable alternative design requirement (RAD)
- Learned intermediary doctrine
- Strict products liability vs. negligence vs. warranty-based claims
- Component manufacturer and seller liability in the distribution chain
Study Tasks
- Brief Greenman v. Yuba Power Products on strict products liability
- Create a flowchart for products liability analysis covering all three defect types
- Compare the consumer expectation test and the risk-utility test
- Create flashcards for products liability theories and their elements
Defamation, Privacy Torts, and Misrepresentation
Week 11 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 558-623; New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964); Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323 (1974); Casebook Ch. 12-13
Key Concepts to Master
- Defamation elements: defamatory statement, publication, of and concerning plaintiff, damage
- Libel vs. slander (and slander per se categories)
- Constitutional overlay: actual malice for public figures (NYT v. Sullivan)
- Negligence standard for private plaintiffs (Gertz)
- Privacy torts: intrusion, public disclosure, false light, appropriation
- Fraud/intentional misrepresentation elements
Study Tasks
- Brief New York Times Co. v. Sullivan and memorize the actual malice standard
- Create a chart mapping public figure status to the required fault standard
- Compare defamation with the four privacy torts
- Create flashcards for defamation elements and constitutional privileges
Vicarious Liability, Nuisance, and Economic Torts
Week 12 of 14
Readings
Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 821A-840E; Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc. v. United States, 398 F.2d 167 (2d Cir. 1968); Casebook Ch. 14-15
Key Concepts to Master
- Respondeat superior: scope of employment, frolic vs. detour
- Independent contractor rule and its exceptions
- Public nuisance vs. private nuisance
- Balancing test for nuisance: gravity of harm vs. utility of conduct
- Tortious interference with contract and business expectancy
Study Tasks
- Brief Ira S. Bushey and analyze the scope-of-employment test
- Create a flowchart for vicarious liability analysis
- Practice a hypothetical involving nuisance from a factory
- Create flashcards for vicarious liability and nuisance elements
Immunities, Preemption, and Tort Reform
Week 13 of 14
Readings
Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346, 2671-2680; Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 895A-895E; Casebook Ch. 16
Key Concepts to Master
- Sovereign immunity and the Federal Tort Claims Act exceptions
- Governmental vs. proprietary function distinction
- Intra-family immunities and their modern erosion
- Federal preemption of state tort claims (Geier v. American Honda)
- Tort reform: damages caps, statutes of repose, screening panels
Study Tasks
- Research your state's tort reform statutes and damages caps
- Create flashcards for FTCA exceptions to sovereign immunity
- Write a practice essay on preemption of a state design defect claim
- Compare governmental and proprietary functions in the immunity context
Review and Exam Preparation
Week 14 of 14
Readings
Review all major cases; Restatement provisions; class notes and outlines
Key Concepts to Master
- Issue-spotting across intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, and products liability
- Selecting the correct theory of liability for each set of facts
- Integrating defenses into every analysis
- Damages calculation across all theories
- Writing organized torts essays under time pressure
Study Tasks
- Complete a full practice exam under timed conditions
- Create a comprehensive one-page attack outline for torts
- Review and consolidate all flashcard decks
- Identify your three weakest areas and re-read those cases
- Practice explaining proximate cause and products liability to a study partner