| Unusual Defenses to Defamation |
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| Defamation lawsuits are not easy to win because the plaintiff must both prove the difficult elements of his or her case and avoid the many defenses to defamation. This article discusses two unusual "defenses" to defamation, the insubstantial but practical defense of I-dare-you-to-sue, and the real but rare defense of consent. More... |
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| Federal Volunteer Protection Act -- Punitive and Noneconomic Damages |
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| The federal Volunteer Protection Act (VPA) limits punitive damage awards against volunteers in cases in which they are not immune from liability. More... |
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| Defense of Property |
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| Generally, a person has a legal right to use reasonable force to prevent the commission of a tort (such as trespass or conversion) against his or her property. Therefore, if a person uses force to prevent the commission of a tort against his or her property and he or she is sued for assault, battery, or another intentional tort, he or she may claim defense of property as a defense to the action. A person is required to make a request to desist before using force to defend his or her property unless such a request would be futile or dangerous.
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| Liability for a Person's Suicide |
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| Traditionally, courts refused to hold a person or entity liable for a person's suicide. Suicide was considered an illegal, deliberate and intentional act that broke the chain of causation between any negligent or intentional conduct and the suicide. More... |
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| The Basic Law of Fraud |
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| As a general rule, it is not illegal to say something that is not true. The general rule probably evolved from the fact that, in addition to engaging in intentional deception, human beings can simply be mistaken. It is also true that some false statements do not deceive because they come from sources known to be unreliable. If we do not rely on the mistaken statements of others, they do us no harm. More... |
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