Business Law Section 2

Tort

A violation of a duty imposed by the civil law

Intentional Tort

Harm caused by a deliberate action

Negligence and Strict Liability

Injuries caused by neglect and oversight rather than deliberate conduct

Libel

Written Defamation

Slander

Oral Defamation

Element

A fact that a plaintiff must prove to win a lawsuit

Opinion

Generally a valid defense in a defamation suit because it cannot be proven true or false

Absolute Privilege

A witness testifying in a court or legislature may never be sued for defamation

Qualified Privilege

Exists between two people who have a legitimate need to exchange information

False Imprisonment

The intentional restraint of another person without reasonable cause and without consent

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Results from extreme and outrageous conduct that causes serious emotional harm

Battery

An intentional touching of another person in a way that is unwanted or offensive

Assault

Occurs when a defendant does some act that makes a plaintiff fear an imminent battery

Fraud

Injuring another person by deliberate deception

Compensatory Damages

Money intended to restore a plaintiff to the position he was in before the injury

SIngle Recovery Principle

Requires a court to settle the matter once and for all by awarding a lump sum for past and future expenses

Punitive Damages

Intended to punish the defendant for conduct that is extreme and outrageous

Tortious Interference with a contract

The defendant improperly induced a third party to breach a contract with the plaintiff

Tortious interference with a prospective advantage

Malicious interference with a developing economic relationship

Intrusion

A tort if a reasonable person would find the invasion of her private life offensive

Judicial Restraint

A court's reluctance to interfere with the terms of a contract

Judicial Activism

A court's willingness to change or ignore a contract that it perceives as unjust

Bilateral Contract

A promise made in exchange for another promise

Express Contract

An agreement with all important terms explicitly stated

Implied Contract

The words and conduct of the parties indicate they have an agreement

Executory Contract

An agreement in which one or more parties has not yet fulfilled its obligations

Executed Contracts

An agreement in which all parties have fulfilled their obligations

Voidable contract

An agreement that may be terminated by one of the parties

Void Agreement

A contract that neither party can enforce because the bargain is illegal or one of the parties had no legal authority to make it

Promissory Estoppel

A possible remedy for an injured plaintiff in a case with no valid contract, where the plaintiff can show a promise, reasonable reliance and injustice

Quasi Contract

A possible remedy for an injured plaintiff in a case with no valid contact, where the plaintiff can show benefit to the defendant, reasonable expectation of payment and unjust enrichment

Quantum Meruit

As much as he deserves, the damages awarded in a quasi contract case

Meeting of the Times

The parties understood each other and intended to reach an agreement

Offer

An act or statement that proposes definite terms and permits the other party to create a contract by accepting those terms

Offerer

The person who makes an offer

Offeree

The person to whom an offer is made

Letter of Intent

A letter that summarizes the negotiating process

Mirror Image Rule

Requires that acceptance be on precisely the same terms as the offer

Discharge

A party is discharged when she has no ore duties under contract

Rescind

To terminate a contract

Strict Performance

Requires one party to perform its obligations precisely, with no deviation from the contract terms

Substantial Performance

Occurs when one party fulfills enough of its contract obligations to warrant payments

Time of the Essence Clause

Generally Makes Contract Dates strictly enforceable

Statute of Limitations

A statutory time limit within which an injured party must file suit

Interest

A legal right in something

Expectation Interest

Is designed to put the injured party in the position she would have been in had both sides fully performed their obligations

Compensatory Damages

Are those that flow directly from the contract

Consequential Damages

Those resulting from the unique circumstances of this injured party

Incidental Damages

Relatively minor costs that the injured party suffers when responding to the breach

Reliance Interest

Puts the injured party in the position he would have been in had the parties never entered into a contract

Restitution Interest

Is designed to return to the injured party a benefit he has conferred on the other party

Recission

To undo a contract and put the parties pack where they were before they made the agreement

Specific Performance

Forces both parties to complete the deal

Injunction

A court order that requires someone to do something or refrain from doing something

Mitigate

To keep damages as low as is reasonable

Liquidated Damages Clause

A provision in the contract that declares in advance what one party will receive if the other side breaches.