Deck 13: Negligence: Element III: Proximate Cause

Question 1

Legal cause is established

A) if the intervening cause is a superseding cause
B) if the injury was not the foreseeable consequence of the original risk
C) if the injury was the foreseeable consequence of the original risk
D) if actual cause exists by the but-for or substantial-factor tests

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Intervening forces are always superseding causes.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The two components of proximate cause are

A) actual cause and cause in fact
B) actual cause and superseding cause
C) actual cause and legal cause
D) actual cause and intervening cause

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The two tests for actual cause are

A) but-for and substantial factor
B) cause in fact and legal cause
C) general cause and special cause
D) but-for and proximate cause

Question 5

You can always determine actual cause through historical data since history repeats itself.

Question 6

A plaintiff with a high vulnerability to injury is said to have a/an ________.

Question 8

The manner in which the injury occurs does not have to be foreseeable if the general nature or type of harm was a foreseeable consequence of the original risk.

Question 9

An intervening cause

A) is always a superseding cause
B) determines actual cause
C) is an independent force that produces harm after the defendant's act
D) is an independent force that produces harm before the defendant's act

Question 10

Under the mitigation-of-damages rule, the defendant will not be liable for any ________ of the plaintiff's injury that could have been prevented by the plaintiff.

Question 12

While the but-for test and the substantial-factor test might lead to the same conclusion, it is generally easier to establish cause in fact by the substantial-factor test.

Question 13

The weight of the evidence determines what standard of proof will be used in a negligence case.

Question 14

The defendant will not be liable for the aggravation of the original injury caused by the defendant when the plaintiff could have prevented the aggravation.

Question 15

The standard of proof in most negligence cases is ________ of the evidence.

Question 16

The two components of proximate cause are actual cause and legal cause.

Question 17

Proximate cause is cause that is legally sufficient to impose liability for the results of one's wrongful act or omission.

Question 18

A sudden violent storm that contributes to the plaintiff's injury is an intervening ________.

Question 19

The extent of the injury must be foreseeable for the defendant to be the proximate cause of that injury.

Question 20

When is an intervening criminal human force a superseding cause?

Question 22

What is the legal cause component of proximate cause?

Question 26

Distinguish between general causation and specific causation in toxic tort cases.

Question 27

What are some of the commonsense considerations for determining whether something is the actual cause of an injury?

Question 28

Explain why it is not true that you will be liable for every injury of which you are the actual cause.

Question 29

What are the two tests to determine whether the defendant was the actual cause of the plaintiff's injury?