Exam 5: Negligence, Professional Liability, and Insurance

Explain the standard of care that must be imposed on the occupier of a property toward a visitor on that property in your province.

Because of the North American Free Trade Agreement and increasing world competition, a provincial government decided to help businesses by providing more information about market conditions, currencies, etc., around the world. It opened small offices throughout the province that provided business information retrieved from the government's database, which was frequently updated. Mr. Hill relied on some information given to him by Alex Chec, an employee of the government. The information was wrong due to Chec's mistake; it was his job to cross-check that information before it was released to the public, but he forgot to do it. Mr. Hill suffered a $15,000 loss because of the error. Which of the following is true?

Which one of the following explains the effect of a co-insurance clause?

You and your friend recently bought a duplex. You rent out the downstairs and live in the upstairs suite. As the owner and occupier, you have acquired certain rights and responsibilities. Which of the following statements about the law relating to land is true?

Ms. Lam bought a lot next to a house owned by Mr. Dodson. She asked Mr. Dodson for permission to use his electricity while building a house on her property. He refused. He feared his house was too old to handle the electricity load needed. Later, a carpenter employed by Ms. Lam accidentally broke a window of Mr. Dodson's while moving lumber. Furthermore, the carpenter removed part of Dodson's fence to make room for needed materials, used Dodson' house to support the lumber and drove some nails into Dodson's tree to hold some wires. Dodson complained to Ms. Lam. Irritated by his stand on the electricity and his complaints, Lam began a civil action against him for the tort of defamation, although she had absolutely no grounds for alleging defamation. Which of the following is not supported by the facts given above?

Mary was driving down the road when Sam came out from a side road, went through a stop sign, and struck the side of her car. Upon later examination of Mary's car, it was determined that the brakes were worn down beyond the point of safety. Sam sued her for negligence. Explain the likely result.

Joe, a concert pianist, was walking down the street when he was struck by Harry, a careless skate boarder. Joe was knocked down and crushed his hand. When Joe sued Harry for his negligence, claiming the loss of income from his profession (he could never play the piano again), Harry countered with the defence that there was no way he could have anticipated that the person he was going to hit was a concert pianist. Explain his likelihood of success in raising this defence.

Distinguish between misfeasance and nonfeasance.

To have the schools valued for insurance purposes, a school district hired a firm of surveyors to give them a statement of value. To prepare the report, the surveyors took the relevant measurements, which were then given to a statistical tabulating company that does the calculations based on the measurements. Surveyors always use the services of such tabulating companies. An error was made in the calculations, so the surveyor's report was wrong. Therefore, the buildings were under-insured. When one of the school buildings was destroyed by fire, the school district did not get sufficient funds from the insurance company to rebuild the school. On these facts, which of the following is true? (Assume that the school district has the ability to sue and be sued in court.)

In Canada, under what circumstances will the owner of property be held strictly liable for his conduct?

Harry operated a game farm in the suburbs of a large city. He took all reasonable precautions to keep the animals, some of which were dangerous, within the confines of that game farm. One night, a group of protesters came onto the property and released all the animals as an act of protest against the incarceration of such wild creatures. One of the animals, a cougar, went onto a neighbour's property and killed an expensive show dog. That neighbour sued Harry. Explain the neighbour's likelihood of success.

Celebrating the end of the fall term, Mr. C had already drunk six beers before he arrived with his friends at the Spoke Tavern, run by the student council. After he had two more beers, he was refused more and told he would be asked to leave if he did have more. He returned to the table and continued to drink. He was ordered to leave. While being escorted out, he resisted but was ejected. He snuck back in, "spoiling for a fight," and was removed once more. He returned, and when pushed through the doorway, he stumbled. His hand went through a small window, and he had to undergo surgery to repair a tendon in his wrist. Mr. C sued the tavern, the bouncer, and the student council (as operators of the tavern) under the Occupiers' Liability Act. Read each of the following separately and indicate which is false.

The provincial government thought that the only way to make businesses competitive with those from other countries was to make more information available to them about market conditions, currencies, etc., around the world. It began a program of incentives that included a government office that would give people not only the business information but also advice on how the businesses could link up to the government's database that held the updated information. Mr. Su relied on some information given to him by Alex Chec, an employee of the government. The information was wrong due to a mistake made by an operator entering data. It was Mr. Chec's job to cross-check that information before it was released to the public. He forgot to do it. Mr. Su suffered a $100,000 loss because of the error. Which of the following is true?

Last month, Rueben removed a tall tree in his backyard. He left the large hole because he intended to plant a new tree when the rains began. Sunday, he invited his neighbour, Joe, to come over to watch the Olympics. When Joe came, he cut through the backyard and fell into the hole and broke his arm. Which of the following is true with regard to the liability of an occupier of land?

Jack works as a financial-planning consultant for Adco Ltd., a company that provides financial advice to its clients. At a three-martini lunch with Benson, one of Adco's clients, and Carson, a friend of Benson's, Jack mistakenly advised Benson to buy shares of Moose Jaw Mining because he thought that Adco had investigated the prospects of the company. In fact, Adco had investigated Goose Jaw Mining and was recommending it to its clients. As it turned out, Benson ignored Jack's advice but Carson bought a lot of Moose Jaw shares and lost all of his money when the mining operation went broke. Which one of the following statements accurately describes Carson's legal situation?

Creative Farming Ltd. manufactures fertilizer from organic matter, a by-product of which is explosive methane gas. During the processing, some of this gas escaped and drifted onto the adjacent property, where it caused an explosion and extensively damaged a building owned by XYZ Co. Creative Farming Ltd. would be liable for the loss under which one of the following principles?

The court determines the standard of care required and whether or not there was a failure to live up to that standard.

An employee prepared an appraisal of a property for his real-estate development company. The employee had been told that the appraisal would be used by the company to attract a potential investor, Mr. Jones, for the company's client, Mr. Lee. Because the appraiser carelessly forgot to check the recent changes in the zoning by-laws, the appraisal was not accurate. Mr. Jones was misled about the value of the land and suffered a financial loss of $200,000. On these facts, which of the following is true?

If a person attempts to help, there is a duty to exercise reasonable care.

An investor who wanted to build a duplex asked the city zoning officer whether Lot A of Plan 16, known as 1 Street, was zoned for a single-family house or a duplex. The zoning officer was distracted by a news report on the radio and accidentally gave the investor a printed copy of the zoning for the wrong lot that said "duplex," although 1 Street was only zoned for single-family houses. After the investor began building a duplex, the city stopped him for building contrary to the zoning by-laws. He lost $50,000. On these facts (assume all can be proven), which of the following is true?