Lesson 3: Torts - Intentional Torts & Negligence Fundamentals
Master intentional torts and negligence elements with practice analyzing fact patterns for the MBE
Lesson 3: Torts - Intentional Torts & Negligence Fundamentals ⚖️
Introduction 🎯
Welcome to your third lesson in bar exam preparation! After mastering constitutional law foundations, we now turn to Torts - one of the most heavily tested subjects on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). Torts questions account for approximately 25% of the MBE, making this subject absolutely critical to your success.
Torts law governs civil wrongs that cause harm or loss, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Unlike criminal law (which we'll cover later), torts are primarily about compensating victims rather than punishing wrongdoers. However, punitive damages can apply in cases of particularly egregious conduct.
In this lesson, we'll focus on two major categories:
- Intentional Torts - wrongful acts done with intent
- Negligence - careless conduct that causes harm
These concepts build on the legal reasoning skills you developed in Lessons 1 and 2, but now you'll apply them to fact-intensive scenarios that require careful element-by-element analysis.
💡 Bar Exam Tip: Torts questions often present complex fact patterns with multiple potential claims. Your job is to identify ALL applicable torts and analyze each systematically using the elements framework.
Core Concepts: Intentional Torts 🎭
What Makes a Tort "Intentional"?
Intent in tort law does NOT mean desire to cause harm. Instead, it means:
- The defendant acted with the purpose of causing the consequence, OR
- The defendant acted knowing the consequence was substantially certain to result
⚠️ This is a lower threshold than you might think! If you swing a bat in a crowded room knowing you'll hit someone, you have intent even if you didn't want to hurt anyone.
Transferred Intent Doctrine: If you intend to commit one tort against one person but actually commit a different tort or harm a different person, your intent "transfers." This applies to five torts: assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, and trespass to chattels.
The Big Three: Battery, Assault, and False Imprisonment
1. Battery 🤜
Elements of Battery:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BATTERY = Intent + Contact + Harm/Offense │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. Intent to cause contact │
│ 2. Harmful OR offensive contact │
│ 3. With plaintiff's person │
│ 4. Causation (act causes contact) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Key Points:
- "Person" includes anything connected to the body (clothing, cane, purse in hand)
- Contact can be indirect (throwing rock that hits victim)
- "Offensive" is judged by reasonable person standard, not victim's hypersensitivity
- NO requirement that plaintiff be aware of the contact at the time it occurs
🧠 Mnemonic: BICH - Battery requires Intentional Contact that's Harmful/offensive
2. Assault 😱
Elements of Assault:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ASSAULT = Intent + Apprehension + IAH │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. Intent to cause apprehension or battery │
│ 2. Plaintiff's reasonable apprehension │
│ 3. Of imminent harmful/offensive contact │
│ 4. Causation │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Critical Distinctions:
- Apprehension ≠ Fear: The plaintiff must expect contact, but doesn't need to be afraid
- Imminent means immediate: "I'll hit you next week" = NO assault
- Apparent ability suffices: If plaintiff reasonably believes defendant can carry out the threat, assault exists even if defendant actually cannot
- Words alone generally insufficient: But words can negate apparent threat ("If you weren't my friend, I'd punch you")
3. False Imprisonment 🔒
Elements of False Imprisonment:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FALSE IMPRISONMENT = Intent + Confine │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. Intent to confine │
│ 2. Actual confinement │
│ 3. In bounded area │
│ 4. Plaintiff aware OR harmed │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
What Constitutes Confinement?
- Physical barriers
- Force or threat of immediate force
- Assertion of legal authority (invalid arrest)
- Refusal to release plaintiff's property when leaving would be unreasonable
What Does NOT Constitute Confinement?
- A reasonable means of escape exists that plaintiff knows about
- Moral pressure alone ("Please don't leave, I'll be sad")
🤔 Did You Know? Shopkeepers have a qualified privilege to detain suspected shoplifters if they have reasonable belief, use reasonable force, and detain for a reasonable time for investigation.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) 💔
This tort protects against extreme and outrageous conduct that causes severe emotional distress.
Elements of IIED:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ IIED = Extreme + Intent + Severe │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. Extreme and outrageous conduct │
│ 2. Intent or recklessness │
│ 3. Causation │
│ 4. Severe emotional distress │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The High Bar:
- "Extreme and outrageous" means conduct that exceeds all bounds of decency tolerated in civilized society
- Courts are reluctant to find conduct sufficiently outrageous
- More likely when: defendant knows of plaintiff's special vulnerability, defendant is in position of authority, or conduct is repeated over time
💡 Bar Exam Alert: Many students over-identify IIED. The conduct must be TRULY outrageous - mere insults, rudeness, or hurt feelings won't suffice.
Trespass to Land and Chattels 🏠
Trespass to Land:
- Intentional physical invasion of another's real property
- Includes entering, remaining after permission expires, or causing object to enter
- NO harm required - nominal damages available
Trespass to Chattels:
- Intentional interference with another's personal property
- Requires actual damage, substantial deprivation, or dispossession
Conversion:
- More serious interference with chattels
- Defendant exercises dominion so serious that justice requires full value payment
- Think: stealing, destroying, substantially changing the property
Core Concepts: Negligence 🚗
While intentional torts require intent, negligence is about carelessness. It's the most common tort claim and appears extensively on the bar exam.
The Four Elements of Negligence
Every negligence claim requires proof of all four elements:
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ NEGLIGENCE FRAMEWORK │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. DUTY: Legal obligation to conform to │
│ standard of care │
│ ↓ │
│ 2. BREACH: Failure to meet that standard │
│ ↓ │
│ 3. CAUSATION: Breach caused the harm │
│ • Actual cause (but-for / substantial factor)│
│ • Proximate cause (foreseeability) │
│ ↓ │
│ 4. DAMAGES: Actual harm or loss │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
🧠 Mnemonic: D-BCD ("Dee-Buh-Cee-Dee") - Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages
Element 1: Duty ⚖️
General Duty Rule: Everyone owes a duty of reasonable care to all foreseeable plaintiffs - persons within the foreseeable zone of danger.
The Reasonable Person Standard:
- Objective standard (not based on defendant's actual abilities)
- A person of ordinary prudence under similar circumstances
- Takes into account: emergency situations, physical disabilities
- Does NOT take into account: low intelligence, inexperience, mental illness
Special Duty Rules:
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ Relationship │ Duty Owed │
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ Landowner to │ Depends on entrant's status: │
│ entrants │ • Trespasser: no duty (except│
│ │ warn of known dangers) │
│ │ • Licensee: warn of known │
│ │ dangers │
│ │ • Invitee: inspect AND warn │
│ │ of dangers │
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ Professionals │ Knowledge/skill of member │
│ │ in good standing in community│
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ Common carriers/ │ Highest duty: utmost care │
│ innkeepers │ │
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ Parents to children │ NO general duty to control │
│ (generally) │ child's conduct │
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
│ No duty to rescue │ UNLESS special relationship │
│ (general rule) │ or defendant created peril │
+──────────────────────+──────────────────────────────+
⚠️ Common Mistake: Students often assume everyone has a duty to help others in danger. Remember: No general duty to rescue exists in American law, though this seems harsh.
Element 2: Breach 📉
Breach means the defendant's conduct fell below the applicable standard of care.
Proving Breach:
- Custom/Industry Standard: Evidence of what others do (not conclusive, but persuasive)
- Statutes: Violation of safety statute may establish breach ("negligence per se")
- Res Ipsa Loquitur ("the thing speaks for itself"): Breach inferred when:
- Accident normally doesn't occur without negligence
- Instrumentality under defendant's exclusive control
- Plaintiff not responsible for the accident
Negligence Per Se: When defendant violates a statute, plaintiff can use the violation to establish duty and breach IF:
- Plaintiff is in the class of persons the statute protects
- The harm is the type the statute was designed to prevent
- Violation caused the injury
💡 Bar Tip: Res ipsa loquitur is often tested with exploding bottles, falling objects from buildings, or surgical instruments left inside patients.
Element 3: Causation 🔗
Causation has TWO parts - both must be proven:
A. Actual Cause (Cause-in-Fact)
But-For Test: "But for defendant's conduct, would the harm have occurred?"
- If no, defendant is actual cause
- If yes, defendant is NOT actual cause
Substantial Factor Test: Used when multiple forces contribute
- Each force that materially contributed is an actual cause
- Used when but-for test is inadequate (two fires merge and destroy property)
B. Proximate Cause (Legal Cause)
Even if defendant actually caused harm, liability only extends to foreseeable consequences.
FORESEEABILITY ANALYSIS
Was harm a foreseeable result of
defendant's negligent conduct?
↙ ↘
YES NO
↓ ↓
Proximate No proximate
cause cause
↓ ↓
Defendant Defendant
liable not liable
Intervening Causes:
- Foreseeable intervening causes (subsequent negligence, normal forces of nature): Do NOT break chain of causation
- Unforeseeable superseding causes (extraordinary acts of nature, criminal acts): Break chain of causation
Direct Cause Doctrine: Defendant liable for all direct consequences, foreseeable or not (minority view)
🤔 Classic Hypo: Defendant negligently causes car accident. Victim taken to hospital. Doctor commits malpractice treating victim. Is defendant liable for malpractice-caused harm? Yes - medical malpractice is a foreseeable intervening cause.
Element 4: Damages 💰
Plaintiff must prove actual damages - unlike intentional torts, nominal damages are NOT available for negligence.
Types of Damages:
- Compensatory: Economic (medical bills, lost wages) and non-economic (pain and suffering)
- Punitive: Only when defendant's conduct was willful, wanton, or reckless
Eggshell Plaintiff Rule: Defendant takes plaintiff as they find them. If plaintiff has pre-existing condition that makes injury worse, defendant is liable for full extent of harm.
Examples with Detailed Analysis 📋
Example 1: Battery vs. Assault 🥊
Scenario: Alex and Bailey are arguing at a party. Alex says, "I'm going to punch you!" and draws back a fist. Bailey ducks. Alex's punch misses completely and doesn't touch Bailey.
Analysis:
Battery? ❌ No
- Intent: ✓ Alex intended to make harmful contact
- Contact: ✗ No contact occurred
- Conclusion: No battery without contact
Assault? ✅ Yes
- Intent: ✓ Alex intended to cause battery (which includes intent for assault)
- Apprehension: ✓ Bailey reasonably expected imminent harmful contact (evidenced by ducking)
- Imminent: ✓ The punch was immediate, not future
- Conclusion: Alex committed assault even though the punch missed
💡 Key Insight: Assault protects against the apprehension of contact, not the contact itself. You can have assault without battery, battery without assault, or both together.
Example 2: False Imprisonment - The Shopkeeper Scenario 🛒
Scenario: Security guard Sam sees customer Chris put a watch in their pocket at a jewelry store. Sam politely but firmly says, "I need you to come to the back office with me to discuss this." Chris, feeling they have no choice, follows. In the office, Sam detains Chris for 30 minutes while reviewing security footage. The footage reveals Chris was examining their own watch they brought from home. Sam apologizes and releases Chris.
Analysis:
Prima Facie False Imprisonment: ✓
- Intent to confine: ✓ Sam intended to confine Chris
- Confinement: ✓ Assertion of authority restrained Chris's movement
- Bounded area: ✓ The office
- Awareness: ✓ Chris was aware of confinement
Shopkeeper's Privilege Defense: ✓
- Reasonable belief: ✓ Sam saw Chris pocket what appeared to be store merchandise
- Reasonable manner: ✓ Polite, non-violent detention
- Reasonable time: ✓ 30 minutes to check footage is reasonable
- Reasonable purpose: ✓ Investigation of suspected theft
Conclusion: Sam is NOT liable because the shopkeeper's privilege defense applies. This privilege allows brief, reasonable detention for investigation when there's reasonable suspicion of shoplifting.
⚠️ If the facts changed: If Sam had detained Chris for 4 hours, used handcuffs without necessity, or had no reasonable basis for suspicion, the privilege would not apply.
Example 3: Negligence - The Icy Sidewalk Slip 🧊
Scenario: Dana owns a coffee shop. After an ice storm, Dana opens for business without salting the sidewalk in front of the shop. Emma, a customer, slips on the ice while entering and breaks her wrist, requiring surgery and 6 weeks off work.
Full Negligence Analysis:
1. Duty ✓
- Dana is a landowner
- Emma is an invitee (business visitor)
- Duty owed: Reasonable care to inspect for dangers and warn/make safe
- Duty established: Dana owed Emma a duty of reasonable care
2. Breach ✓
- Reasonable person in Dana's position would have salted/warned about ice
- Ice after storms is obvious hazard
- Dana did neither
- Breach established: Dana failed to meet duty of care
3. Causation ✓
Actual Cause:
- But-for test: "But for the icy sidewalk, would Emma have slipped?" → No
- Actual cause established
Proximate Cause:
- Is injury from slipping on ice foreseeable result of not salting? → Yes
- This is the exact type of harm that makes the conduct negligent
- Proximate cause established
4. Damages ✓
- Broken wrist (medical expenses)
- Lost wages (6 weeks)
- Pain and suffering
- Damages established
Conclusion: Dana is liable for negligence. All four elements are satisfied.
🔧 Try This: What if Emma was a trespasser cutting through Dana's property? Would Dana owe the same duty? No - landowners owe only minimal duty to trespassers (warn of known concealed dangers).
Example 4: Proximate Cause - The Unforeseeable Intervention 🚨
Scenario: Frank negligently runs a red light and hits Gina's car, causing minor damage. Gina pulls over safely with minor whiplash. While Gina is standing beside her car on the shoulder, a drunk driver swerves off the road and hits Gina, causing severe injuries.
Analysis:
Frank's Liability for Initial Whiplash: ✓ Full liability
- All four negligence elements present
- Whiplash is foreseeable result of car accident
Frank's Liability for Drunk Driver's Injuries: ❌ No liability
Actual Cause: ✓
- But for Frank's accident, Gina wouldn't have been standing there
- Frank IS actual cause
Proximate Cause: ✗
- While Frank is actual cause, the drunk driver's actions are an unforeseeable superseding cause
- A drunk driver specifically hitting someone on the shoulder is not a foreseeable risk of running a red light
- The chain of causation is broken
Conclusion: Frank is liable only for the initial whiplash, not the severe injuries from the drunk driver.
💡 Compare: If Gina had been hit by ANOTHER negligent driver (not drunk, just inattentive), Frank might be liable because subsequent negligence is generally foreseeable. The drunk driver's extreme conduct breaks the chain.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake 1: Confusing Intent Standards
❌ Wrong: "Defendant didn't mean to hurt anyone, so no intentional tort" ✅ Right: Intent requires only purpose OR substantial certainty of consequence, NOT desire to harm
Example: Throwing a rock into a crowd - you may not want to hit anyone, but you're substantially certain someone will be hit = intent for battery.
Mistake 2: Thinking Assault Requires Fear
❌ Wrong: "Plaintiff wasn't afraid, so no assault" ✅ Right: Assault requires apprehension (expectation) of contact, not fear or intimidation
Example: A professional boxer might not fear an opponent's punch but still has apprehension it will land = assault.
Mistake 3: Forgetting to Check ALL Four Negligence Elements
❌ Wrong: Jumping to "defendant was negligent" after seeing unreasonable conduct ✅ Right: Systematically verify duty, breach, causation, AND damages
Why it matters: Defendant might breach duty but not cause harm (no causation), or plaintiff might suffer no actual damages.
Mistake 4: Over-Identifying IIED
❌ Wrong: "Defendant insulted plaintiff badly, that's IIED" ✅ Right: Conduct must be EXTREME and OUTRAGEOUS - beyond all bounds of decency
Bar exam trap: Most rude or offensive behavior doesn't qualify. Courts set a very high bar.
Mistake 5: Assuming Duty to Rescue Exists
❌ Wrong: "Defendant saw plaintiff drowning and didn't help = negligence" ✅ Right: No general duty to rescue unless special relationship or defendant created the peril
Exception: Once you BEGIN a rescue, you have duty to continue with reasonable care.
Mistake 6: Confusing Actual and Proximate Causation
❌ Wrong: Treating causation as a single element ✅ Right: Must establish BOTH actual cause (but-for) AND proximate cause (foreseeability)
Example: Defendant's negligence is actual cause but unforeseeable intervening event breaks proximate causation = no liability.
Mistake 7: Applying Wrong Landowner Duty
❌ Wrong: Assuming landowners owe same duty to everyone ✅ Right: Duty varies based on entrant status:
Invitee > Licensee > Trespasser
(highest duty) (lowest duty)
Bar tip: Characterize the plaintiff's status BEFORE analyzing duty.
Key Takeaways 🎯
Intentional Torts Quick Reference:
- Battery: Intent + harmful/offensive contact with person
- Assault: Intent + reasonable apprehension + imminent harmful/offensive contact
- False Imprisonment: Intent + confinement in bounded area + awareness/harm
- IIED: Extreme/outrageous conduct + severe emotional distress
- Transferred Intent: Applies to assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass to land, trespass to chattels
Negligence Framework:
D-BCD Elements (all required):
- Duty: Reasonable care to foreseeable plaintiffs
- Breach: Conduct falls below standard
- Causation: Both actual (but-for) AND proximate (foreseeable)
- Damages: Actual harm/loss required
Important Distinctions:
| Concept | Key Point |
|---|---|
| Intent | Purpose OR substantial certainty |
| Assault vs Battery | Apprehension vs contact |
| Offensive contact | Reasonable person standard |
| Proximate cause | Foreseeability limits liability |
| Superseding cause | Breaks causation chain |
| Eggshell plaintiff | Take victim as you find them |
Bar Exam Strategy:
✅ Always analyze intentional torts element-by-element ✅ Always check all four negligence elements systematically ✅ Look for multiple potential claims in one fact pattern ✅ Consider defenses (we'll cover comprehensively in Lesson 5) ✅ Remember that most torts questions test issue-spotting AND analysis
Quick Reference Card 📋
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ TORTS CHEAT SHEET - LESSON 3 ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ INTENTIONAL TORTS: ║
║ • Battery: Intent + Contact + Harm/Offense ║
║ • Assault: Intent + Apprehension + Imminent ║
║ • False Imprisonment: Intent + Confine + Awareness ║
║ • IIED: Extreme conduct + Severe distress ║
║ ║
║ NEGLIGENCE (D-BCD): ║
║ 1. Duty - reasonable care to foreseeable Ps ║
║ 2. Breach - falls below standard ║
║ 3. Causation - but-for + foreseeability ║
║ 4. Damages - actual harm required ║
║ ║
║ KEY RULES: ║
║ • Intent = purpose OR substantial certainty ║
║ • Transferred intent: 5 torts ║
║ • No general duty to rescue ║
║ • Landowner duty varies by entrant status ║
║ • Superseding cause breaks proximate causation ║
║ • Eggshell plaintiff: take as you find them ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Further Study 📚
National Conference of Bar Examiners - MBE Subject Outlines: https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mbe/preparing/ - Official breakdown of tested torts topics with percentage weights
Restatement (Second) of Torts (via Google Scholar): https://scholar.google.com/ - Search for specific sections; authoritative source courts frequently cite
Barbri & Themis Free Resources: https://www.barbri.com/bar-exam-blog/ - Many free articles breaking down torts concepts with practice questions
Next Up: In Lesson 4, we'll dive into Contracts - another heavily-tested MBE subject. You'll learn the formation requirements, performance obligations, and breach remedies that appear on 25% of MBE questions. Keep building that foundation! 💪⚖️