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Welcome to the Spring Semester!
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Midterm Review
Semester Overview
Negligence — Causation —— Factual Causation —— Proximate Cause — Defenses —— Contributory & Comparative Negligence —— Assumption of Risk
Semester Overview
Strict Liability — Traditional view — Products liability —— Manufacturing defects —— Design defects —— Warnings —— Defenses
Semester Overview
Intentional Torts — Types of intentional tort — Defenses
Alternatives to Tort
Causation
Two parts:
- Factual cause
- Proximate cause
Factual causation is usually straightforward
Adams v. Bullock — Kid gets electrocuted by trolley line
Martin v. Herzog — Car accident, driving without headlights turned on
Byrne v. Boadle — Flour barrel falls on plaintiff’s head
Reynolds v. Hicks — Underage kid gets drunk at wedding and gets in car accident
Stubbs v. City of Rochester
[fit] What about two possible causes?
Two different tests for factual causation
- “But for”
- Substantial factor
California Jury Instructions
A substantial factor in causing harm is a factor that a reasonable person would consider to have contributed to the harm. It must be more than a remote or trivial factor. It does not have to be the only cause of the harm.
[Conduct is not a substantial factor in causing harm if the same harm would have occurred without that conduct.]
Zuchowicz v. United States
Four typical scenarios in which factual cause may be contested
- Toxic exposure
- No idea what happened
- Know what happened, but don’t know that it wouldn’t have happened if defendant had behaved reasonably
- Know what happened, but don’t know who to blame
