Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) Torts Syllabus

Torts syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Torts in Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Intentional Torts

   3 topics

   • Harms to the Person
     • Battery and assault
     • False imprisonment
     • Intentional infliction of emotional distress
   • Harms to Property
     • Trespass to land
     • Trespass to chattels and conversion
   • Defenses to Intentional Torts
     • Consent
     • Self-defense, defense of others, and property
     • Necessity (public and private)
2. 2

   Negligence

   4 topics

   • Duty and Standard of Care
     • Existence and scope of duty; foreseeable plaintiffs
     • Reasonable person standard
     • Special duties: landowners, professionals, affirmative duties
   • Breach and Causation
     • Proving breach and res ipsa loquitur
     • Actual cause (but-for and substantial factor)
     • Proximate cause and intervening forces
   • Damages and Defenses
     • Compensatory damages and the eggshell plaintiff
     • Contributory and comparative negligence
     • Assumption of risk
   • Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
     • Zone of danger
     • Bystander recovery
3. 3

   Strict Liability and Products Liability

   3 topics

   • Strict Liability
     • Abnormally dangerous activities
     • Liability for animals
   • Products Liability
     • Theories: negligence, warranty, strict liability
     • Manufacturing, design, and warning defects
     • Plaintiffs, defendants, and defenses
   • Nuisance
     • Private nuisance
     • Public nuisance
4. 4

   Other Tort Doctrines

   3 topics

   • Defamation and Privacy
     • Libel and slander elements
     • Constitutional limits and public figures
     • Invasion of privacy torts
   • Economic and Dignitary Torts
     • Misrepresentation (fraud and negligent)
     • Interference with business relations
   • Vicarious Liability and Multiple Defendants
     • Respondeat superior and independent contractors
     • Joint and several liability and contribution
     • Indemnification

Torts flashcards for Uniform Bar Examination (UBE)

23 of 50 cards from the Torts deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the elements of battery?

   (1) A volitional act by the defendant; (2) intent to cause a harmful or offensive contact (or imminent apprehension of it); (3) actual harmful or offensive contact with the plaintiff's person; and (4) causation. Contact with anything connected to the plaintiff (e.g., clothing, a held object) counts.

2. What are the elements of assault?

   (1) A volitional act; (2) intent to cause reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact; (3) the plaintiff's reasonable apprehension of such imminent contact; and (4) causation. Words alone generally are not enough; there must be an apparent present ability to act.

3. What are the elements of false imprisonment?

   (1) An act or omission that confines or restrains the plaintiff to a bounded area; (2) intent to confine; (3) the plaintiff is conscious of the confinement or harmed by it; and (4) causation. There must be no reasonable means of escape known to the plaintiff.

4. What are the elements of intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)?

   (1) Extreme and outrageous conduct (beyond all bounds of decency); (2) intent to cause severe emotional distress or recklessness as to it; (3) causation; and (4) severe emotional distress. Unlike other intentional torts, damages (severe distress) are required and there is no recovery of nominal damages.

5. How can a bystander recover for IIED?

   A bystander may recover by showing the prima facie elements OR by showing: (1) presence when the injury to the victim occurred; (2) the plaintiff is a close relative of the victim; and (3) the defendant knew of the presence and relationship. (If victim suffers bodily harm, some courts allow bystander recovery even absent close relation.)

6. What are the elements of trespass to land?

   (1) Physical invasion of the plaintiff's real property; (2) intent to enter the land (not intent to trespass); and (3) causation. Mistake as to ownership is no defense. Invasion can be by a person or by a tangible object.

7. Distinguish trespass to chattels from conversion.

   Both involve intentional interference with personal property. Trespass to chattels is a minor interference (slight dispossession or damage); remedy is cost of repair/loss of use. Conversion is a serious interference depriving the owner of the chattel; remedy is full fair market value at time of conversion (forced sale).

8. What is transferred intent and to which torts does it apply?

   Intent transfers when a defendant intends a tort against one person/tort but accomplishes another. It applies among five torts: battery, assault, false imprisonment, trespass to land, and trespass to chattels. Intent transfers both person-to-person and tort-to-tort.

9. What are the requirements for valid consent as a defense to intentional torts?

   Consent may be express or implied (by custom/conduct), but the plaintiff must have capacity. Consent is invalidated by fraud, duress, or mistake induced by the defendant, and the defendant may not exceed the scope of the consent given.

10. What force is permitted in self-defense?

    A person may use reasonable force when reasonably believing they are about to be attacked. Force must be proportionate; deadly force is allowed only against a threat of serious bodily harm or death. The modern majority imposes no duty to retreat (some require retreat before deadly force, except in one's home).

11. What are the rules for defense of property as a defense to intentional torts?

    Reasonable, non-deadly force may be used to prevent a tort against property, after a request to desist (unless futile). Deadly force or mechanical devices (e.g., spring guns) may never be used solely to protect property. The defense is not available against one with a privilege (necessity, recapture).

12. Compare public necessity and private necessity as defenses.

    Public necessity (acting for the public good) is an absolute defense—no liability even for damage caused. Private necessity (acting to protect one's own interest) is a qualified defense—the actor is not liable for the trespass itself but must pay for actual damage caused.

13. What is the shopkeeper's privilege?

    A merchant may detain a suspected shoplifter without liability for false imprisonment if: (1) there is a reasonable belief as to the theft; (2) the detention is conducted in a reasonable manner with only non-deadly force; and (3) the detention is for a reasonable period of time and only for investigation.

14. State the prima facie elements of a negligence claim.

    (1) Duty—a legal obligation to conform to a standard of care; (2) Breach—failure to meet that standard; (3) Causation—both actual (factual) and proximate (legal) cause; and (4) Damages—actual harm to person or property.

15. To whom is a duty of care owed under the majority (Cardozo) view?

    Under Cardozo (Palsgraf), a duty is owed only to foreseeable plaintiffs—those within the 'zone of danger.' Under the minority Andrews view, a duty is owed to everyone if the defendant breached a duty to anyone (foreseeability addressed at proximate cause).

16. What is the general (reasonable person) standard of care in negligence?

    The defendant must act as a reasonably prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. The standard is objective—the defendant's own mental shortcomings are not considered, but superior knowledge/skill and relevant physical characteristics (e.g., blindness) are taken into account.

17. What standard of care applies to children in negligence?

    A child is held to the standard of a child of like age, intelligence, and experience (a subjective-tinged standard). Children under ~5 are generally incapable of negligence. Exception: a child engaged in an inherently dangerous or adult activity (e.g., driving) is held to the adult reasonable-person standard.

18. What standard of care applies to professionals?

    A professional must exercise the knowledge and skill of an ordinary member of that profession in good standing (a national standard for physicians). For physicians, the duty also includes obtaining informed consent—disclosing risks a reasonable patient would want to know.

19. Under the traditional approach, what duties does a landowner owe to entrants on the land?

    Trespassers (undiscovered): no duty except to refrain from willful/wanton harm. Discovered/anticipated trespassers: warn of known artificial conditions that are highly dangerous. Licensees (social guests): warn of known concealed dangers. Invitees (business visitors): reasonable inspection and make safe of known and reasonably knowable dangers.

20. What is the attractive nuisance doctrine?

    A landowner may be liable for injury to child trespassers from an artificial condition if: (1) a dangerous artificial condition the owner knows/should know of; (2) the owner knows/should know children frequent the area; (3) the condition is likely to cause injury (children can't appreciate the risk); and (4) the burden of remedying is slight compared to the risk.

21. State the negligence per se doctrine and its elements.

    A statutory standard replaces the reasonable-person standard (establishing duty and breach) when: (1) the plaintiff is within the class of persons the statute was designed to protect; and (2) the harm is the type the statute was designed to prevent. Violation of the statute is conclusive on breach (with excuses like emergency or compliance being more dangerous).

22. What is res ipsa loquitur and what does the plaintiff establish with it?

    Res ipsa loquitur lets a plaintiff prove breach circumstantially by showing: (1) the accident is of a type that does not normally occur absent negligence; and (2) the instrumentality was in the exclusive control of the defendant (negligence attributable to defendant). It creates an inference of breach, defeating a directed verdict for the defendant.

23. What is the test for actual cause (cause-in-fact)?

    The 'but-for' test: the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant's conduct. When multiple sufficient causes combine (e.g., two fires), use the 'substantial factor' test. When two defendants are negligent but only one caused the harm (unknown which), use alternative causation (Summers v. Tice)—burden shifts to defendants.

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