AIC 301 4, 5, 6 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS (GRADED A+)
Proximate cause - ANSWER-A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence
unbroken by any new and independent cause, produces an event and without which the
event would not have happened.
Negligence - ANSWER-The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable
person in a similar situation would exercise to avoid harming others.
Tort - ANSWER-A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of
contract, that invades a legally protected right.
Tortfeasor - ANSWER-A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff - ANSWER-The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant - ANSWER-The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty - ANSWER-An element of negligence that exists when parties are in such a
relationship that the law imposes on one party the responsibility for the exercise of care
toward the other party.
Statute - ANSWER-A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or
state level
Contract - ANSWER-A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.
Common law (case law) - ANSWER-Laws that develop out of court decisions in
particular cases and establish precedents for future cases.
Reasonable person test - ANSWER-A standard for the degree of care exercised in a
situation that is measured by what a reasonably cautious person would or would not do
under similar circumstances.
Common carriers - ANSWER-Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish
transportation to any member of the public seeking their offered services.
"But for" rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine whether a defendant's act was the
proximate cause of a plaintiff's harm based on the determination that the plaintiff's harm
could not have occurred but for the defendant's act.
,Substantial factor rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine proximate cause of a loss
by determining which of the acts are significant factors in causing the harm.
Foreseeability rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine proximate cause when a
plaintiff's harm is the natural and probable consequence of the defendant's wrongful act
and when an ordinarily reasonable person would have foreseen the harm.
Intervening act - ANSWER-An act, independent of an original act and not readily
foreseeable, that breaks the chain of causation and sets a new chain of events in
motion that causes harm.
Concurrent causation (concurrent causation doctrine) - ANSWER-A legal doctrine
stating that if a loss can be attributed to two or more independent concurrent causes—
one or more excluded by the policy and one covered—then the policy covers the loss.
Negligence per se - ANSWER-An act that is considered inherently negligent because of
a violation of a law or an ordinance.
Res ipsa loquitur - ANSWER-A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances,
negligence is inferred simply by an accident occurring.
Exclusive control - ANSWER-The control of only one person or entity; in tort law the
control by the defendant alone of an instrument that caused harm.
Comparative negligence - ANSWER-A common-law principle that requires both parties
to a loss to share the financial burden of the bodily injury or property damage according
to their respective degrees of fault.
Contributory negligence - ANSWER-A common-law principle that prevents a person
who has been harmed from recovering damages if that person's own negligence
contributed in any way to the harm.
Last clear chance doctrine - ANSWER-An excuse for a plaintiff's contributory negligence
that holds the party who has the last clear chance to avoid harm and fails to do so solely
responsible for the harm.
Assumption-of-risk defense - ANSWER-A defense to negligence that bars a plaintiff's
recovery for harm caused by the defendant's negligence if the plaintiff voluntarily
incurred the risk of harm.
Pure comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover damages discounted by his or her own percentage of
negligence, as long as the plaintiff is not 100 percent at fault.
, 50 percent comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is not
greater than the other party's negligence.
49 percent comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is
less than the other party's negligence.
Slight versus gross rule - ANSWER-A rule of comparative negligence that permits the
plaintiff to recover only when the plaintiff's negligence is slight in comparison with the
gross negligence of the other party.
Trespasser - ANSWER-A person who intentionally enters onto the property of another
without permission or any legal right to do so.
Nuisance - ANSWER-Anything interfering with another person's use or enjoyment of
property.
Attractive nuisance doctrine - ANSWER-A doctrine treating a child as a licensee, or
guest, rather than a trespasser on land containing an artificial and harmful condition that
is certain to attract children.
Licensee - ANSWER-A person who has permission to enter onto another's property for
his or her own purposes.
Release - ANSWER-A legally binding contract between the parties to a dispute that
embodies their agreement, obligates each to fulfill the agreement, and releases both
parties from further obligation to one another that relates to the dispute.
Exculpatory clause (exculpatory agreement) - ANSWER-A contractual provision
purporting to excuse a party from liability resulting from negligence or an otherwise
wrongful act.
Liquidated damages - ANSWER-A reasonable estimation of actual damages, agreed to
by contracting parties and included in the contract, to be paid in the event of a breach or
for negligence.
Gross negligence - ANSWER-An act or omission that completely disregards the safety
or rights of others and is exaggerated or aggravated in nature.
Immunity - ANSWER-A defense that, in certain instances, shields organizations or
persons from liability.
Sovereign immunity (governmental immunity) - ANSWER-A defense to negligence that
protects the government against lawsuits for tort without its consent.
ANSWERS (GRADED A+)
Proximate cause - ANSWER-A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence
unbroken by any new and independent cause, produces an event and without which the
event would not have happened.
Negligence - ANSWER-The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable
person in a similar situation would exercise to avoid harming others.
Tort - ANSWER-A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of
contract, that invades a legally protected right.
Tortfeasor - ANSWER-A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff - ANSWER-The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant - ANSWER-The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty - ANSWER-An element of negligence that exists when parties are in such a
relationship that the law imposes on one party the responsibility for the exercise of care
toward the other party.
Statute - ANSWER-A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or
state level
Contract - ANSWER-A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.
Common law (case law) - ANSWER-Laws that develop out of court decisions in
particular cases and establish precedents for future cases.
Reasonable person test - ANSWER-A standard for the degree of care exercised in a
situation that is measured by what a reasonably cautious person would or would not do
under similar circumstances.
Common carriers - ANSWER-Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish
transportation to any member of the public seeking their offered services.
"But for" rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine whether a defendant's act was the
proximate cause of a plaintiff's harm based on the determination that the plaintiff's harm
could not have occurred but for the defendant's act.
,Substantial factor rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine proximate cause of a loss
by determining which of the acts are significant factors in causing the harm.
Foreseeability rule - ANSWER-A rule used to determine proximate cause when a
plaintiff's harm is the natural and probable consequence of the defendant's wrongful act
and when an ordinarily reasonable person would have foreseen the harm.
Intervening act - ANSWER-An act, independent of an original act and not readily
foreseeable, that breaks the chain of causation and sets a new chain of events in
motion that causes harm.
Concurrent causation (concurrent causation doctrine) - ANSWER-A legal doctrine
stating that if a loss can be attributed to two or more independent concurrent causes—
one or more excluded by the policy and one covered—then the policy covers the loss.
Negligence per se - ANSWER-An act that is considered inherently negligent because of
a violation of a law or an ordinance.
Res ipsa loquitur - ANSWER-A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances,
negligence is inferred simply by an accident occurring.
Exclusive control - ANSWER-The control of only one person or entity; in tort law the
control by the defendant alone of an instrument that caused harm.
Comparative negligence - ANSWER-A common-law principle that requires both parties
to a loss to share the financial burden of the bodily injury or property damage according
to their respective degrees of fault.
Contributory negligence - ANSWER-A common-law principle that prevents a person
who has been harmed from recovering damages if that person's own negligence
contributed in any way to the harm.
Last clear chance doctrine - ANSWER-An excuse for a plaintiff's contributory negligence
that holds the party who has the last clear chance to avoid harm and fails to do so solely
responsible for the harm.
Assumption-of-risk defense - ANSWER-A defense to negligence that bars a plaintiff's
recovery for harm caused by the defendant's negligence if the plaintiff voluntarily
incurred the risk of harm.
Pure comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover damages discounted by his or her own percentage of
negligence, as long as the plaintiff is not 100 percent at fault.
, 50 percent comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is not
greater than the other party's negligence.
49 percent comparative negligence rule - ANSWER-A comparative negligence rule that
permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is
less than the other party's negligence.
Slight versus gross rule - ANSWER-A rule of comparative negligence that permits the
plaintiff to recover only when the plaintiff's negligence is slight in comparison with the
gross negligence of the other party.
Trespasser - ANSWER-A person who intentionally enters onto the property of another
without permission or any legal right to do so.
Nuisance - ANSWER-Anything interfering with another person's use or enjoyment of
property.
Attractive nuisance doctrine - ANSWER-A doctrine treating a child as a licensee, or
guest, rather than a trespasser on land containing an artificial and harmful condition that
is certain to attract children.
Licensee - ANSWER-A person who has permission to enter onto another's property for
his or her own purposes.
Release - ANSWER-A legally binding contract between the parties to a dispute that
embodies their agreement, obligates each to fulfill the agreement, and releases both
parties from further obligation to one another that relates to the dispute.
Exculpatory clause (exculpatory agreement) - ANSWER-A contractual provision
purporting to excuse a party from liability resulting from negligence or an otherwise
wrongful act.
Liquidated damages - ANSWER-A reasonable estimation of actual damages, agreed to
by contracting parties and included in the contract, to be paid in the event of a breach or
for negligence.
Gross negligence - ANSWER-An act or omission that completely disregards the safety
or rights of others and is exaggerated or aggravated in nature.
Immunity - ANSWER-A defense that, in certain instances, shields organizations or
persons from liability.
Sovereign immunity (governmental immunity) - ANSWER-A defense to negligence that
protects the government against lawsuits for tort without its consent.
