Torts Flashcards for Law Students

Battery: intentional harmful or offensive contact with another.

Negligence elements: duty, breach, actual causation, proximate causation, damages.

Reasonable person standard: objective standard of care (not subjective).

Hand Formula (Carroll Towing): B < P x L — breach exists when burden of precaution is less than probability times gravity of loss.

Res ipsa loquitur: (1) accident normally doesn't occur without negligence, (2) instrumentality in defendant's exclusive control, (3) plaintiff not contributorily negligent.

Proximate cause: defendant liable only for foreseeable harms (Palsgraf majority) vs. direct consequences (Andrews dissent).