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Citation25 Cal. 2d 486, 154 P.2d 687 (1944) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff suffered serious injuries and pain after receiving a surgery at a hospital. Other doctors told him that his injuries were caused by trauma by pressure. Plaintiff sued all doctors and nurses that cared him during the previous surgery and hospitalization.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur applies where a plaintiff received unusual injuries while unconscious and in the course of medical treatment. All defendants who had any control over his body or the ...

Citation110 Me. 77, 85 A. 399 (1912) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiff was a member of the defendant’s religious sect, which had locations in Jaffa, Syria and Maine. The plaintiff tried to leave the sect and was imprisoned on a yacht docked in Maine.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. False imprisonment requires some sort of physical restraint or barrier, not just a moral one.     ...

Citation248 F. 853 (C.C.A.N.Y 1918) Brief Fact Summary. The defendant sold the plaintiff the patent and equipment to manufacture vacuum cleaners, but the defendant exaggerated the vacuum’s abilities and its past sale performance.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Statements of opinion can be actionable on grounds of misrepresentation if they are material and indicate a reflection of facts that the reasonable person would accept as true.     ...

Citation8 F. Supp 3d 1115 (D. Minn. 2014) Brief Fact Summary. In a chapter of the defendant’s bestselling book, he describes an altercation between himself and the unnamed plaintiff, whom the defendant later named in interviews. The book chapter portrays the plaintiff in a negative light, which the plaintiff claims is defamatory.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Actual malice can be inferred in a defamation case from a false statement about unambiguous events.     ...

Citation56 N.Y. 2d 98, 436 N.E.2d 502 (1982) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff is the tenant of an apartment owned by defendant. One day, plaintiff was injured by the shattered glass door in the bathroom while he was sliding it. Plaintiff alleged that defendant was negligence for not replacing the door with shatterproof safety glass.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. A party is liable for negligence when their failure to follow an accepted custom and that this departure is the proximate cause of an injury.     ...

Citation33 Cal. 2d 80, 199 P.2d 1 (1948) Brief Fact Summary. Both defendants shot at plaintiff’s direction at the same time. Plaintiff was seriously injured but there was no way to determine which one of the defendants fired the shot that injured plaintiff.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Two tortfeasors can both be liable even the injury could only be caused by one of them. If there is no way to determine which defendant’s negligence caused the injury, the burden of proof shifts to the defendants. When defendants cannot not work out appor ...

Citation8 Cal. 4th 548, 882 P.2d 298, 34 Cal. Rptr. 2d 607 (1994) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiff’s ankles were badly injured when her car made by the defendant collided with another car. She claimed that defects in her car allowed its left front wheel to break free, collapse backwards, and smash the floorboard of the car into her feet. The defendant claims that the force of the collision alone caused the injury, not a design defect.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. In cases of design defects in complex products, the risks and benefits of the design sh ...

Citation317 Mass. 469, 58 N.E.2d 754 (1945) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff was driving on the road when a bus coming toward her and forced her to make a right turn. She then collided with another car. Plaintiff claimed defendant was the owner of the bus and sued.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. It is not enough to prove actual causation only because mathematically the chances somewhat favor a proposition to be proved.     ...

Citation33 N.Y.2d 293, 307 N.E.2d 245 (1973) Brief Fact Summary. On the last day of school, plaintiff was on the bus home with his classmates when they started to destroy the bus out of excitement for the summer break. The bus driver informed them that he was taking them to the police station, at which point the plaintiff tried to jump out the window of the bus. He landed on the ground and was then run over by the bus, causing severe personal injury.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Restraint or detention under reasonable circumstances imposed for the purp ...

Citation326 P.3d 465 (N.M. 2014) Brief Fact Summary. In these consolidated cases, a truck crashed through the window of Concentra Medical Clinic, causing deaths and injuries of several people. Both groups of plaintiffs sued the defendant, which was the owner and operator of the shopping center that Concentra located at.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. When determining the existence of a duty of care, foreseeability is not a question for courts to consider.     ...

Citation154 Mass. 272, 28 N.E. 266 (1891) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff was on her passage to Boston. Pursuant to Boston quarantine regulations, all travelers needed to be vaccinated before arrival, so the surgeon vaccinated Plaintiff on her shipboard. Plaintiff did not want to receive the vaccination and sued Cunard Steamship Company for assault.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. In determining whether there is consent, the Court should look at plaintiff’s overt acts and the manifestations of her feelings. Plaintiff’s subjective state of mind does no ...

Citation332 S.W.3d 749 (Mo. 2011) (en banc) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiff, a heavier woman, got into a car accident in her Ford Explorer. Upon impact, her seat collapsed backwards, and she fractured her spine, rendering her a paraplegic. There was no warning from the manufacturer that the seat might collapse in this manner.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Strict liability for failure to warn can still be applied even if the product in question was not defective. If the product was rendered unreasonably dangerous by characteristics of its users, an ad ...

Citation228 N.Y. 164, 126 N.E. 814 (1920) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff and husband were driving a buggy without headlights on a dark highway at night, violating a statute that requires headlights. Defendant rounded a curve on the highway in the opposition direction and crashed into plaintiff. The accident caused the death of plaintiff’s husband.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Unexcused omission of statute required signals is negligence itself.     ...

Citation217 N.Y. 382, 111 N.E. 1050 (1916) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff’s car crashed and plaintiff was injured. Defendant was the manufacturer of the car, however, plaintiff bought the car from a dealer not defendant directly. Additionally, the defective wheels which caused the accident were manufactured by a separate manufacturer.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. If a manufacturer, who puts a finished product on the market to be used without inspection by his customers, is negligent, where danger is to be foreseen, a liability will follow.   ...

Citation183 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 1971) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff broke into defendants’ farmhouse and was seriously injured by a “spring gun” trap. Plaintiff, while admitting trespassing and theft, sued for damages caused by the injury.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. No privilege exists to use force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to prevent trespass unless the trespass threatens death or great bodily harm to the property owner.     ...

Citation30 Mich. 181 (1874) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff’s hotel caught fire and was destroyed. Plaintiff claimed that the fire was caused by sparks emitted from the chimney of defendant’s mill and sued for defendant’s negligence.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. When there is no direct evidence, the jury may consider circumstantial evidence to determine causation.     ...

Citation601 F.2d 516 (10th Cir. 1979) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff was a professional football player who was injured by defendant football player after plaintiff blocked defendant player. Defendant player admitted that he hit plaintiff intentionally. Plaintiff sued for battery and assault.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Even professional football games are violent in nature, you do not consent to intentional torts outside the rules of customs of the game.     ...

Citation24 Cal. 2d 453, 150 P.2d 436 (Cal. 1944) Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff is a waitress. A bottles of carbonated Coca Cola exploded and hurt her hand. Plaintiff sued the manufacturer.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. The doctrine of res ipsa loquitur does not apply unless defendant had exclusive control of the thing causing the injury and the accident is of such a nature that it ordinarily would not occur in the absence of negligence by defendant.     ...

Citation85 N.H. 449, 164 A. 111 (1932) Brief Fact Summary. The decedent was a boy who lost his balance on a bridge and grabbed a live wire. The wire was maintained by defendant and was charged with high voltage. Plaintiff, as the administrator of decedent’s estate, brought a negligence action against defendant.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Defendant is liable for damages to plaintiff’s probable future but for defendant’s negligence.     ...

Citation426 P.2d 173 (Cal. 1967) Brief Fact Summary. One of the plaintiff’s tenants was injured due to her negligence, but her insurance company refused to settle. The tenant won in court and was awarded a much higher damage amount than the settlement had proposed. This caused the plaintiff’s financial situation to drastically change, leading to a decline in her health.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Insurers are liable for the consequences of refusing to settle if they knew there was considerable risk of substantial recovery beyond the policy l ...

Citation23 Colo. 113, 47 P. 284 (1896) Brief Fact Summary. Several robbers came to defendant’s jewelry store and threatened defendant. Defendant grabbed his revolver and chased them outside. Defendant fired warning shots in the air and attracted police officers. Plaintiff, a police officer, approached defendant but was shot by defendant. Defendant claimed that he thought the officer was one of the rioters and shot in self-defense.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. Where a defendant in a civil action raises self-defense, he must satisfy the jury not only ...

Citation359 Mass. 319, 286 N.E.2d 860 (1971) Brief Fact Summary. The plaintiff, a small elderly man, was falsely accused of shoplifting from the defendant. He was taken back into the store from which he had just purchased a sport coat, and he began to feel ill. He was ultimately hospitalized for a myocardial infarct caused by the emotional distress of the incident.     Synopsis of Rule of Law. One must be reasonably justified, using the standard of a reasonable person, in believing that someone was shoplifting in order to detain them without liability ...