AIC 301 EXAM: LATEST A+ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
BREAKDOWN
Tort
A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a legally
protected right.
Tortfeasor
A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff
The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant
The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty
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
A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or state level.
Common law (case law)
Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for future cases.
Reasonable person test
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
Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of the public
seeking their offered services.
Proximate cause
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.
"But for" rule
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
, 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
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
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)
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
An act that is considered inherently negligent because of a violation of a law or an ordinance.
Res ipsa loquitur
A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances, negligence is inferred simply by an accident
occurring.
Exclusive control
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
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
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
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
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
BREAKDOWN
Tort
A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a legally
protected right.
Tortfeasor
A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff
The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant
The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty
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
A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or state level.
Common law (case law)
Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for future cases.
Reasonable person test
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
Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of the public
seeking their offered services.
Proximate cause
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.
"But for" rule
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
, 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
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
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)
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
An act that is considered inherently negligent because of a violation of a law or an ordinance.
Res ipsa loquitur
A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances, negligence is inferred simply by an accident
occurring.
Exclusive control
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
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
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
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
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
