Standard of care is an essential concept in determining whether a person was negligent and potentially liable for a tort. If a person breaches the standard that applies to them and their actions cause harm to another person, they will be...
standards of tort liability
statutory damages
Statutory damages are a type of damages awarded in a successful claim to compensate for an injury or loss, whose amount is pre-established by statute. Statutory damages are commonly used in areas of the law in which it might be complex to...
strict liability
**(Contrast with general intent and specific intent)**
Overview
In both tort and criminal law, strict liability exists when a defendant is liable for committing an action, regardless of what his/her intent or mental state was when...
suffering
Suffering is the pain, hurt, inconvenience, embarrassment, and inability to perform normal activities because of injury, for which a person injured by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing may recover general damages. It is usually in the...
superseding cause
See: intervening cause
[Last updated in September of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
supervening cause
See: intervening cause
[Last updated in September of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
toxic tort
A toxic tort is a subcategory of torts involving injuries to plaintiffs caused by toxic substances. Such cases are often brought under the doctrine of product liability. While toxic tort cases traditionally dealt with injuries arising from...
ultrahazardous activity
Ultrahazardous Activity (also known as abnormally dangerous or extrahazardous activity) refers to actions of individuals and entities that involve a high level of danger which typically carries strict liability. Ultrahazardous activity, by...
unascertainable cause
In this situation, multiple defendants are simultaneously negligent, but only one injury results, leaving a state of uncertainty over which defendant's breach caused the plaintiff's injury and which defendant should be held liable. In this case, the...
vicarious infringement
Vicarious infringement is a form of secondary liability for direct infringement based on the common law principle of respondeat superior.
A person may be held liable for the infringing acts committed by another if he or she had the right and...