Paralegal Law Ch. 1

Front 1

What is a Tort?

Back 1

>Frech word for WRONG

>A civil WRONG

Front 2

Liability

Back 2

>a wrongful act for which a person is held LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE.

Front 3

Tortfeason

Back 3

>the PERSON COMMITTING the tort(wrong)

Front 4

Remedy

Back 4

>relief given to a party ton enforce a right

>often MONEY for the damages

Front 5

Damages

Back 5

>remedy awarded at law, int the form of MONEY

Front 6

Protected interest

Back 6

>person has a right (under tort law)t to be protected from certain kinds of conduct

e.g. one interest to protect oneself from physical harm, in own freedom of movement, maintaining privacy, and in protecting personal property from destruction or damage.

Front 7

Classifications of Tort

Back 7

>Intentional

>Unintentional (negligence)

>Strict Liability

Front 8

Intentional

Back 8

>intending the result of your

*Assault

*Battery

*False Imprisonment

Front 9

Negligence

Back 9

>Failure to use reasonable care resulting in harm to a person or property

Front 10

Strict Liability

Back 10

>Liability imposed without regard to fault, tortfeasor is held responsible without regard to blameworthiness

>Abnormally dangerous activity

*Mining blasts

*Nuclear power

Front 11

Civil law

Back 11

>system dealing with the definition ans enforcement of private and public rights

Front 12

Criminal law

Back 12

>system dealing with wrongful action perpetrated against society, and demands redress

Front 13

Lawsuit

Back 13

> civil legal action brought by a party against another

Front 14

Plaintiff

Back 14

>person bring the action of the lawsuit

Front 15

Defendant

Back 15

>person being sued

Front 16

Burden of proof

Back 16

>party's duty to prove a disputed assertion in a law suit or persecuton

Front 17

Preponderance of the evidence

Back 17

>allegations are "more than likely not" true

Front 18

Prosecution

Back 18

>legal action brought against a defendant alleging the commission of a crime

Front 19

Beyond a reasonable doubt

Back 19

>prosecution must prove its case leaving no reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant in the minds of the jurors

Front 20

Penalty

Back 20

>imposed on a defendant found guilt in a criminal prosecution

* fines

*imprisonment

*death

Front 21

Four hierarchy

Back 21

>constitutional law

>statutory law (congress)

>administrative (president)

>common law (case law)

Front 22

Common law

Back 22

>judge-made law created by the courts and found in courts opinions; called case law

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Statue

Back 23

>law enacted by a legislature

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Case on point

Back 24

>previous court decision involving similar facts and legal issues`

Front 25

Binding or Mandatory authority

Back 25

>legal authority that a court must follow in deciding the issue at hand

Front 26

Secondary sources of law

Back 26

>summarize or interpret law; not laws the selves

>Includes:

*materials such as case digest

*legal encyclopedias

*restatement of torts

Front 27

Primary sources of

Back 27

>resources that establish the law on an issue, such as court decision, constitution,statute, or administrative regulations

Front 28

Case name/Case title

Back 28

>identifies the parties to a court case

Front 29

Case citation

Back 29

>locator reference

>includes:

* Vol. number the where the case is publ.

*name of the reporter

*pg. number on which the case begins

* identification of the rending the decision and yr. of decision

>e.g. "Palsgraf v. long Island R.R. CO., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1982)"

Front 30

Persuasive authority

Back 30

>authority that is not binding on a court but that may be used as guidance in making its decision

Front 31

Researching Tort law

Back 31

>main source of tort law is state common law, it is researched primarily by searching for the state cases

>published court cases are found in reports and can be located by case name and citaton

Front 32

Case briefing

Back 32

>reading, analyzing,and summarizing the case

>includes:

*case name/title and citation

*summary if the key facts

*issue(s)

*holding(s)

*summary of the court's reasoning

Front 33

Opinion

Back 33

>usually lengthy. analysis,decision and reasoning of the court in ruling on a case

Front 34

Unanimous opinion

Back 34

>opinion in which all the judges agree

Front 35

Majority opinion

Back 35

>opinion in which a majority of the judges agree

Front 36

Concurring opinion

Back 36

>judges who agree with the court's majority opinion,but for different reasons

Front 37

Dissenting opinion

Back 37

>judges who disagree with court's majority opinion

Front 38

Case brief

Back 38

>mechanism for summarizing, in written form, a court case

Front 39

Essential elements

Back 39

>component parts to support the tort

* if missing an element tort has not been committed

Front 40

Contingency fee

Back 40

>fee based on a percentage of the plaintiff's recovery

Front 41

Tort reform

Back 41

>changing the rules and applications of tort law to reverse the upward trend in compensation

Front 42

Plaintiff"s attorney

Back 42

>lawyer who represents an injured person in tort lawsuit

Front 43

Personal injury case

Back 43

>name for negligence cases resulting in personal injury to a plaintiff. (PI cases)