WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

PROFESSOR NORWOOD - FALL 2014 TORTS

GENERAL INFORMATION
1)

CASEBOOK: Dobbs, Hayden, Bublick: Torts and Compensation (7th Edition). DO NOT, DO NOT, DO
NOT BUY THE CONCISE EDITION OF THIS BOOK. DID I SAY DO NOT? YES, I DID! DO NOT!

2)

OTHER RESOURCE MATERIALS, on reserve in the law library, include the following:
Dobbs, The Law of Torts
The Restatement (Second) of Torts
The Restatement (Third) of Torts
Interactive Tort Exercises by Cali:
http://www2.cali.org/index.php?fuseaction=lessons.subjectlist&cat=trt

3)

CONTACT INFORMATION: I am located in room 561. My office # is 935-6416. My email address is

norwood@wulaw.wustl.edu.

4)

Please use your mylaw link for Torts. I will post handouts there, update calendar events and the like.

5)

EXAM:
The final exam will be open book. This means you can bring your own class notes and outlines
(prepared by you and/or any study group you are part of). No casebooks, no commercial outlines, etc.
If English is a second language for you, you may also bring in a dictionary.
The exam will be three hours in length. The exam will be a mixture of multiple choice and essay
questions.

6)

PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT:
In our short time together this semester we will often discuss sensitive issues of right to touch, consent,
privacy, harmful words, gender issues, race/ethnicity issues, emotional harm and more.
We cannot avoid discussions because they are tough, hard, open wounds. You are going into the
practice of law. You need to be able to hear and discuss all issues that present in the law. If you need
to leave or remove yourself from class discussions because of the sensitive nature of the discussions,
you certainly can do that. I do not demand attendance or participation in every conversation.
Additionally, please be civil, tolerant and respectful towards each another. You are training to become
professionals. This is the place to start acting professionally. Please carry yourself like the lawyer and
counselor you will become at the end of your three-year journey. I expect you to listen to all speakers
in our classroom, respond to differences civilly, and conduct yourself, at all times, in a professional
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manner. This includes not cutting off others while they are speaking. (This is a hard one! Even for
lawyers! LOL!)
7)

CLASS RULES:
a)

There is a large area I call the no class disruptions policy. Cell phones fall under that
category. You need to turn off or silence cell phones when you enter the classroom.
Additionally, mini conversations with class mates either while I talking or while others are talking
disrupts our class flow. Most importantly, I have a no-laptop policy. This policy goes into effect
on day one of our class. We did a study on this a few years ago. Laptop use disturbs your
classmates because so many are shopping, playing games, checking email, working on other
stuff and the like. My job is to teach and to limit class disruptions to the extent possible. Medical
reasons and other similar exceptions are possible to my no-laptop policy. IF you feel entitled to
an exception, contact me.
Class disruptions are Honor Code violations. Additionally or in lieu thereof, they can also result
in exclusions from my Torts class. Depending on the severity and/or frequency of the violation,
notice will be provided, with an opportunity to correct the behavior, before one is excluded from
the class.

b)

Our normal class starts at 10:38. We end at noon.

c)

Please come to class prepared for class. Being prepared requires reading assigned
materials, giving some thought to the material, and coming to class ready to discussion the
material.

d)

We will not always cover materials contained on our syllabus. Please know, however, that
unless I say otherwise, anything on our syllabus is fair game for an appearance on an
exam.

e)

We will not always cover cases in the exact order assigned. For example, if you are required to
read pp. 1-10 and there are 3 cases in those 10 pages: case A on p. 1, case B on p. 5, and
case C on p. 8; we may cover case C before case A, etc.

f)

Absences: There is no absence policy. Attendance is important to me and to our class.

Should we get to the point where absences are becoming an issue, I will adopt a formal policy-with adequate notice to all--at the appropriate time.

g)

You are not allowed to videotape or audio record our classes. Additionally, if you would like a
class videotaped, you must email your request to me with an explanation as to the reason for
the request. GENERALLY-- permission will be given only for serious medical reasons (subject
to verification), for students with particular disabilities, and for significant personal difficulties.
Taping will not be permitted for brief illnesses, job interviews, inclement weather and the like. If
you miss class for such a reason, consult a colleague for the class notes, and if you have
questions or concerns about the material that you missed, please come and speak with me.
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COURSE SYLLABUS
I. AN OVERVIEW
1)

Introduction

Casebook (CB) 3- top 8; 19 - 32

2)

Fault vs. no fault; Damages

8 17; in connection with Note on p.16; watch: Hot Coffee 1

II.

INTENTIONAL TORTS

3)

Battery

35 - 53

4)

Assault

54 - 59

5)

False Imprisonment2

59 - 62

6)

Some Torts to Property

62 - top 65; bottom 67-bottom 68; 65 - middle 67; handout on

HeLA cellsmylaw

7)

Forcible Harm as a Civil Rights

Violation: 42 U.S.C. 1983

bottom 68 - 71; handout; GUEST SPEAKER

Intentional Infliction of
Emotional Distress

579 - end of note 3 on 607

Employer Liability for the Acts

of the Servant (employee): Overview3

639 - middle 654; bottom 666 - 669

8)
9)

III.

SOME AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO INTENTIONAL TORTS:

10)

Self-Defense/Defense of Others

73 - 78

11)

Defense & Repossession of Property

78 - 82

12)

Arrest & Detention4

82 - 87

13)

Discipline5

87 - 88

14)

Consent

88 - 96

Hot Coffee is also linked on our mylaw page.

This material will not be covered in class.
32
This material will not be covered in class.
43
This material will not be covered in class.
4
This material will not be covered in class.
1
2

15)

Necessity

96 - 103

IV.

NEGLIGENCE

16)

The Common Law Duty of Care:

107 - top 127

17)

Statutory Violations as
Negligence per se

126 - 140

18)

Breach of Duty

19)

Relevance of Custom, Rules

Manuals, or lack thereof

181 - end of note 2 on 187

Proving Unspecified Negligence:

Res Ipsa Loquitur

187 - 194; 198 - 204

21)

Actual Harm

205 - end of note 4 on 208

22)

Cause in Fact

208 - 217; 163 - 166; 218 - 236; 823 - 831

23)

Proximate Cause

237 - end of note 4 on 271; 277-79

20)

V.

141 - top 153; 895 - end note 3 on 899; 3 on 921 - to end of

Pittman case on 922; 153-toend of note 4 at top of 163

BACK TO DUTYA FEW EXAMPLES OF SPECIAL/LIMITED DUTIES:

24)

Nonfeasance

495 - 512

25)

Duties to protect from 3rd persons

543 - 570

26)

Duty to protect from

emotional distress

588 - 613

VI.

SOME AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO NEGLIGENCE:

27)

Contributory Negligence &

Comparative Fault

283 - 298; skim 298 - 308; 308 - 312

28)

Assumption of the Risk

Skim 313 - 320; 320 - 328