Tort Law 7th Edition J. Stanley Edwards, Traci Cull - Solutions

True Or False Those who maintain that the tort system is too plaintiff-oriented point to the expansion of strict liability and the adoption of comparative negligence.
True Or False Most Americans who are injured in an accident seek compensation from the individual or entity that caused the accident.
True Or False Strict liability may be the reason that tort liability insurance expanded.
True Or False Comparative negligence allows fewer plaintiffs to recover.
True Or False Abolition of privity has led to an increase in lawsuits.
True Or False Most of the data used by those advocating tort reform comes from the federal courts and is therefore misleading because most tort claims are litigated in state courts.
True Or False In the federal courts the greatest overall increase in filings was due to an increase in filings by the federal government.
True Or False In assessing the litigiousness of American society, the question is not whether there has been an increase in tort filings but whether there has been an increase in litigation per capita.
True Or False An increase in tort filings points to a clear increase in litigiousness.
True Or False The national median for jury awards has steadily increased since 1990.
True Or False Both smaller and larger jury awards are more frequent than they were 20 years ago because of the failure to use small juries.
True Or False Jury Verdict Research is reluctant to interpret trends in jury awards because they do not poll juries and do not know jurors’reasoning.
True Or False Although individual cases may point to a dysfunctional system, they may be misleading when not all of the facts are known.
True Or False Plaintiffs prevail in a smaller fraction of malpractice claims that go to trial than any other type of litigation.
True Or False In most medical malpractice cases, either the claims are meritless, or the jury tends to give doctors the benefit of the doubt.
True Or False The oft-cited statistic that the average verdict in product liability cases is $1 million is misleading because it was based on typical defendants’verdicts.
True Or False It appears that plaintiff-friendly reform increases employment and promotes productivity.
True Or False The problems of the tort system cannot be resolved by simply gathering empirical evidence.
True Or False Assigning a precise numerical value to physical injuries is always impossible.
True Or False Plaintiffs are almost always overcompensated.
True Or False Punitive-damage awards are frequent and commonly excessive.
True Or False Courts are generally willing to uphold legislation imposing limits both on economic damages and non-economic damages.
True Or False One criticism of punitive damages is that they lead to excessive litigation by plaintiffs who hope to intimidate defendants into settling.
True Or False Some states have required some part of punitive-damage awards to be distributed to the state.
True Or False Some states have tiers for punitive damages based on the defendant’s level of intent.
True Or False The excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment does not apply to punitive damages, but the due process clause does.
True Or False In State Farm v. Campbell, the Court found the punitive-damage award grossly excessive because the ratio between the compensatory damages and punitive damage was unreasonable.
True Or False Tort reform legislation does not necessarily prevent runaway verdicts.
True Or False Progressive Era reformers advocated the adoption of joint and several liability because they thought it was important to protect negligent tortfeasors from disproportionate liability.
True Or False Classical reformers disliked joint and several liability because they believed that plaintiffs should bear the risk of insolvent multiple defendants just as they did when there was only one defendant.
True Or False After adopting comparative negligence, some states abolished joint and several liability or modified it so that only defendants whose fault was large in comparison to the plaintiff could be jointly liable.
True Or False Under the collateral-source rule a plaintiff might not be fully compensated for all of her injuries.
True Or False The collateral-source rule has been abolished in some states because allowing the admission of evidence of supplemental benefits helps ensure that liability is divided among tortfeasors in accord with their respective degrees of culpability.
True Or False Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is used infrequently.
True Or False The British rule may increase administrative costs of the judicial system.
The goal of classical reformers was to create rules in the tort system that favored ____________, while the goal of reformers in the Progressive Era was to create rules favoring ____________.
________ has allowed recovery by plaintiffs who would have been excluded by contributory negligence.
Proponents of tort reform argue that increased tort liability has increased the practice of ____________ medicine.
Under the ____________ rule, the tortfeasor is prevented from benefiting from insurance protection the plaintiff has obtained.
The ____________ Bills were passed that limited punitive damages.
Tort lawa. has a function of compensation but not deterrence.b. prevents the risk of injury from being spread among all members of society.c. exposes incompetence, corruption, and other forms of misconduct.d. all of the above.
Personal injury claimsa. make up the majority of civil cases.b. have experienced little or no increase since 1986.c. are usually litigated in federal courts.d. all of the above.
Litigation ratesa. are not significantly higher in the United States than they are in other industrialized countries.b. are higher now than they were in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.c. were at their highest in the 1930s and 1940s, and those rates are used as a baseline for
Tort reformers claim thata. Americans are too litigious.b. the insurance industry finds it impossible to predict risks and set prices because the tort system is too defendant-oriented.c. the median for jury awards is relatively stable.d. all of the above.
In product liability cases, punitive damages are criticized becausea. they punish shareholders instead of wrongdoers.b. they are incompatible with fault-free theories of strict liability.c. they do not serve the goals of punishment and deterrence.d. all of the above.
One of the greatest problems in the medical system is thata. claims against doctors and hospitals have steadily increased since the 1980s.b. many wrongs are going unredressed.c. more plaintiffs that go to trial prevail than in other categories of litigation.d. all of the above.
Joint and several liabilitya. is frequently relied upon by plaintiffs.b. was originally introduced when the doctrine of contributory negligence prevailed.c. seems to reduce insurance costs.d. all of the above.
The collateral-source rulea. has been abolished in some states because allowing the admission of evidence of supplemental benefits helps ensure that liability is divided among tortfeasors in accord with their respective degrees of culpability.b. prevents plaintiffs from being fully compensated.c.
What is the primary purpose of automobile insurance coverage?
What is the difference between split-limits and single-limit coverage? Give an example of each.
What is an umbrella policy?
Under what circumstances will a court reform an insured’s policy?
What does subrogation allow an insurer to do?
What do each of the following coverages provide?a. medical paymentb. comprehensivec. collisiond. uninsured motoriste. underinsured motorist
If an insured is injured while driving a motor vehicle owned by someone other than the insured, whose coverage is considered primary and whose coverage is considered secondary?
What is the purpose of collision insurance coverage?
What is a coordination-of-benefits provision?
How is the value of damaged property determined for purposes of reimbursement by means of comprehensive coverage?
What precautions should be taken when purchasing miscellaneous coverage?
Why is buying uninsured motorist (UM) coverage so important?
Who is considered an underinsured motorist(UM)?
Is UM coverage required in most states?
Can an insurer offset monies paid under a medical payment coverage against an amount due under a UM policy?
Can UM and UIM coverage be stacked?
In what types of disputes involving insurance is arbitration typically used?
What happens if either party contests the arbitration decision?
Describe the arbitration process followed when resolving a typical dispute pertaining to insurance coverage.
On what grounds can an insurance contract be terminated?a. What has complicated voluntary termination?b. What steps must an insurer take to terminate an insured’s policy?
What is the purpose of no-fault insurance?a. What can and cannot be recovered with no-fault insurance?b. What limits are often established with no-fault insurance, and on what are these limits based?c. Is no-fault insurance generally considered a successful experiment?d. How does no-fault insurance
How does no-fault parallel worker’s compensation?
True Or False Most states have sanctions for those that drive without insurance.
True Or False An umbrella policy must be issued by the same carrier that provides the automobile policy.
True Or False An umbrella policy is liable after the first insurer pays full limits on its coverage.
True Or False Subrogation is always allowed with respect to collision, comprehensive, and UIM coverage.
True Or False Insureds have no obligation to cooperate with their insurer in the subrogation process.
True Or False Medical payment coverage does not apply to damages sustained by an insured when they are injured as a pedestrian.
True Or False If an insured is injured while in a vehicle owned by someone else, the insured’s coverage will be used to pay her medical expenses up to the limits of their coverage.
True Or False Most medical payment policies provide for a fixed period of time after the accident that payments for medical expenses will be allowed.
True Or False Death benefits under medical payment coverage are usually fixed at a certain dollar amount.
True Or False Death benefits are used to compensate the deceased’s family for pain and suffering.
True Or False Comprehensive coverage can include loss from fire, storms, and hail.
True Or False Under the terms of a collision insurance policy, coverage is dependent on who is at fault.
True Or False Under the terms of a collision insurance policy, the insurer can seek payment from the insured if the insured is responsible for the damage to the vehicle.
True Or False Coverage for such services as emergency services is almost always cost-effective and should be routinely purchased.
True Or False Uninsured motorists do not include motorists who have a policy with an insolvent insurer or hit-and-run drivers.
True Or False The percentage of uninsured motorists on the road is very low.
True Or False In all states the insurer can reduce the damages paid to the insured in proportion to the insured’s negligence.
True Or False An insurance company can sometimes offset monies paid under a medical payment plan against the amount due the insured under his UM coverage.
True Or False Uninsured motorist policies provide coverage regardless of whether the insured was driving the automobile specifically referred to in the policy or a different vehicle.
True Or False Under a coordination-of-benefits provision, an insurer is responsible for its pro rata share of the damages as long as the insured was driving her own vehicle.
True Or False Arbitration is usually required in most policies in the event of a dispute regarding the amount of the insured’s damages with respect to UM, UIM, and medical payment coverage.
True Or False In some policies the insured and the insurer must agree on and jointly pay for the services of a single arbitrator who hears the case.
True Or False Most policies provide that a decision by two of three arbitrators is binding on the parties and cannot be appealed.
True Or False If a party appeals an arbitration award, the issue of damages can be relitigated in consideration of the arbitrator’s findings.
True Or False An insurer cannot terminate a contract on the basis of the insured being convicted of driving while intoxicated.
True Or False No-fault insurance was created on the premise that it would result in prompt payment to insureds for economic damages and to reduce automobile insurance premiums.
True Or False In a pure no-fault system, the insured gives up their right to sue for damages sustained as a result of a third party’s negligence.
True Or False None of the states that have adopted no-fault have a pure no-fault system.
True Or False In no-fault states, the right to sue for torts is retained for intentional injuries inflicted with an automobile and injuries caused by intoxicated drivers.
True Or False States vary in the minimum amount of benefits they require insureds to buy.

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Tort Law 7th Edition J. Stanley Edwards, Traci Cull - Solutions

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