-
Duty
- A person's obligation to conform his conduct to a particular standard of care.
- An obligation to protect someone else from an unreasonable risk of harm.
- An obligation of a person to act in a reasonable manner.
-
Standard of Care
The standard used to determine if a party has acted negligently in a particular case.
-
When does a duty arise?
When one person has the power to injure another and can only avoid injuring this other person by acting in a reasonable, prudent, and cautious way.
-
Foreseeability
- *Can only impose damages for harm that is foreseeable.
- *Jury has to decide whether the harm is foreseeable.
- Was the injury to the plaintiff reasonably foreseeable?
- Foreseeability is a clearly recognized danger, not just the possibility of something happening.
- If the injuries were foreseeable, then it is more likely that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff to keep him from harm.
- (If injuries were not foreseeable, the courts usually rule that the defendant had no duty)
-
NO duty to save a stranger's life....
- unless you caused their injury.
- (Example: Mr. Kleven's story about the ditch covered by puddle of water, and they took away the cones so that the kid would fall in the water hole.)
- They had a duty to save him from drowning since they caused him to fall in.
-
Duty can arise from professional status
- Doctors
- Lawyers
- Accountants
- Bankers
*Duty of care for professionals is not the same as others.
-
Standard of care for professionals:
- What a reasonable professional of the same training would do, in the same geographical area.
- Surgeon to surgeon
- Lawyer to lawyer
- Etc.
-
Specialist
One who has become an expert in a particular field through education, training, or both.
- Held to the highest standard nationwide.
- Not tied to the geographic region where the specialist practices, unlike the standard for a professional.
-
Special Relationships hold a duty
Parent to child - parents have a duty to protect their children from foreseeable injury and to provide a safe environment until the child grows into an adult.
-
Duty is on the possessor of land, not the owner
-
NO duty to trespassers
Unless the trespassers are children who can accidentally harm themselves on the property.
-
NO duty to 3rd parties
Example: Someone who witnesses an accident and is not injured by the plaintiff.
-
Possible to waive duty by signing a contract in certain circumstances
- But special relationships CAN'T waive duty by contract.
- Example: Doctors can't have patient sign waiver releasing them from liability for malpractice.
|
|
