Business Law: Negligence and Torts
(8 lectures, 45 minutes/lecture)
Course No. 562

Taught by Frank B. Cross
The University of Texas at Austin
B.A., University of Kansas; J.D., Harvard Law School
	 
This course addresses two important questions:

    * When is someone else legally responsible for harm done to you?
    * When are you legally responsible for harm done to someone else?

This course of eight lectures discusses torts, the body of law designed to redress through civil litigation harms done to persons.

As with all bodies of law, in order to analyze the legal implications of a potentially tortious action, it is necessary to blend common sense and pragmatic thinking with an understanding of legal definitions as they have evolved over time.

This lecture series not only explains the basics of this substantive body of law, but it also gives insight through examples of how the law is based on a logical idea of a just outcome.

You have an outstanding guide to understand clearly this area of law. Professor Frank B. Cross is Professor of Business Regulation at The University of Texas at Austin and a former attorney with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, D.C.

The Academy of Legal Studies in Business honored Professor Cross as the nation's outstanding professor. The Business Week guide to M.B.A. programs has also recognized him as one of the nation's outstanding teachers.

His conversational, clear, thorough, and humorous style makes this course a pleasure.
The Basics: Negligence and Intentional Interference with Property

Lecture 1 lays out the basic foundations of torts law, the three categories of which it is composed, and the legal factors necessary to find a person liable for a tort.

Negligence is discussed in terms of specific legal duties under the common law, and the standard of what a "reasonable person" would think or do, which is relied upon so heavily in this body of law.

Lecture 2 continues the discussion of negligence, especially of property owners, and the defenses that can be offered against allegations of negligence. You consider the duties of landowners to trespassers, guests, and others (such as the injuries of burglars or children who invade swimming pools). You search the causal connections that determine whether one person's acts are—in law—the "cause" of another's harm.

Lecture 3 discusses the flip side of property owner's negligence—the definitions of intentional interference with property. Your neighbor's tree interferes with your fence and your sunlight. You cook with mountains of garlic that vent into your neighbor's apartment. What determines intentional interference with property? You look at various cases. The nature of intent is discussed in terms of each of several kinds of offenses.
Defamation, Privacy, and Emotional Distress

Lectures 4 and 5 deal with the high-profile, occasionally controversial topics of defamation, privacy, and emotional distress.

In Lecture 4, you look at the law of libel (written) and slander (oral) that damage a person's reputation. Several requirements of defamation are discussed, as well as the privilege to defame which can attend commentary on public figures. You also examine when truth is a defense against libel.

Lecture 5 discusses the expanding tort of infliction of emotional distress, which can be either negligent or intentional, but which must pass several specific tests before it can be definitely labeled tortious. Invasion of privacy and the various forms it can take under common law are reviewed in detail.
Business Torts: Product Liability, Interference, Misappropriation, Trademarks

Lectures 6, 7, and 8 return to a more traditional conception of business law in their discussion of product liability, business torts, and trademarks.

Do cars need warning labels? Would it have any legal effect if they did? The extent to which a manufacturer is liable for damages caused to persons or property is explained in Lecture 6, including the several defenses, such as assumption of risk, which can be raised.

Lecture 7 discusses third-party intervention in contracts and prospective business, as well as the legal implications of misappropriation of information.

Lecture 8 closes the series with an interesting discussion of trademark law, and the considerations such as competition or likelihood of consumer confusion that courts must weigh before handing down decisions on such infringements. The cases discussed in this lecture look at intrusions on the trade name, appearance, and reputation of many famous products. 

Course Lecture Titles
   1. Foundations of Torts and Negligence Introduction
   2. Negligence (continued)
   3. Intentional Interferences with Property
   4. Defamation
   5. Privacy and Emotional Distress
   6. Product Liability
   7. Business Torts
   8. Trademark