Tort law worksheet with answers

Under the Defamation Act 2013, the defence of truth requires the defendant to show that:

1. AThe defendant honestly and reasonably believed the statement was true
2. BEvery single word of the statement is accurate
3. CThe statement was on a matter of public interest
4. DThe imputation conveyed by the statement is substantially true

How do English courts usually treat a person injured while rescuing someone endangered by the defendant's negligence?

1. AThey can claim only if they are professional rescuers, such as firefighters
2. BThey cannot claim, because they volunteered
3. CThey can claim only half their damages
4. DThey can usually claim, because rescue is foreseeable

When two tortfeasors cause the same indivisible damage, the claimant can usually:

1. ASue only the one who acted first
2. BRecover only half from each of them
3. CRecover the full damages from either of them
4. DSue only if both are joined in one claim

The Wagon Mound case concerns which issue?

1. AStrict liability for animals
2. BDuty of care to unborn children
3. CDirectness: a defendant is liable for all direct consequences of the breach
4. DRemoteness: only reasonably foreseeable types of damage are recoverable

In Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital, why did the claim fail?

1. AThe doctor met the standard of care
2. BThe hospital owed no duty of care to a patient it had not admitted
3. CThe claim was made too late
4. DThe patient would have died even with proper treatment

A milkman, forbidden by his employer to give lifts, lets a boy ride on his float to help deliver milk. The boy is injured by the milkman's negligence. In Rose v Plenty, the employer was:

1. ANot liable, because giving lifts had been expressly forbidden by the employer
2. BVicariously liable, because the boy was helping with the employer's work
3. CNot liable, because the boy was a trespasser
4. DLiable only if the milkman had no insurance

As a practical joke, a man falsely tells a woman that her husband has been badly injured. She suffers a serious illness from the shock. In Wilkinson v Downton, the man was:

1. ALiable only in defamation
2. BLiable for intentionally causing physical harm by a false statement
3. CNot liable, because there was no direct physical contact with the woman
4. DNot liable, because it was only a joke

A surveyor values a modest house for a mortgage lender, knowing the buyer will rely on it. The report is negligent and contains a disclaimer. In Smith v Eric S Bush, the House of Lords held:

1. AThe surveyor owed a duty to the buyer, and the disclaimer failed the reasonableness test
2. BThe disclaimer excluded all liability to the buyer
3. CThe surveyor owed no duty, because the buyer was not the client who commissioned the report
4. DThe lender alone could sue the surveyor