75
votes
Accepted
What are some possible law suits or civil actions the Las Vegas shooting victims could take?
You can sue anyone for anything. I will answer these on the assumption that the real question is whether there is a legal basis for such a suit.
1) Could someone open a civil action against the ...
- 195k
74
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to infringe copyright if your boss or your client ordered you to do it?
There are two parts to copyright liability: civil and criminal. TL;DR: both cases are criminal offences, and it is illegal to break the law even when you are paid to do it.
In the USA criminal ...
- 13k
43
votes
Can I sue an app for enabling harassment?
There are legitimate apps that let you buy phone numbers. With the right app I can buy let's say a landline number in Kansas. I call you, and you will think it's some guy in Kansas calling you. That's ...
- 32.9k
40
votes
Can I booby-trap my property against police?
First off, you cannot booby trap your property, period. It is both illegal and tortious. But, as you noted, there are already questions/answers that deal with this issue.
Sure enough, if the police ...
- 11.2k
37
votes
Accepted
If a stolen item is stolen again, who has the liability?
You cannot pass on better title than you have
The fraudster (B) in this scenario does not have good title in the car and so the thief (C) doesn't either: 1) because they are a thief and 2) because ...
- 198k
35
votes
Accepted
Do cats have a "right to roam" in the UK?
The statement that cats cannot commit trespass is technically true, but is also a misreading of ss.4 and 4A of the Animals Act. Those sections replace a common-law doctrine called "cattle ...
- 4,671
33
votes
Accepted
How to mitigate the risk of getting sued by clients (web dev contracting)
Nothing gives you complete protection. You can (and should) have artfully drawn contracts with disclaimers and indemnification, but if the counterparties decline to comply with the contracts you may ...
- 21.7k
31
votes
Accepted
Has it been Legally Confirmed that A Website is not Liable if passwords stolen from it are used on other sites?
united-states
The argument you are making, restated in legal terms, is roughly as follows:
Users have a duty to not reuse passwords.
When a user reuses a password, and their password is subsequently ...
- 3,338
28
votes
Is it illegal to infringe copyright if your boss or your client ordered you to do it?
I'm in the UK. I have been put in both these scenarios in times past. For the first I stood up to the boss and point-blank refused to do it, giving reasons. The atmosphere was tense for a couple of ...
- 389
26
votes
Accepted
A car catches fire in a carpark. The resulting fire spreads destroying the entire carpark. Who is liable?
In General
The insurer is never primarily liable for anything. Someone who may or may not have insurance is responsible.
A person harmed can't sue somebody else's insurance company (except in the rare ...
- 195k
24
votes
Accepted
How do free-speech protections in the United States apply in public to corporate misrepresentations?
It is legal to be wrong, it is legal to say false things in public (leaving out defamation), and it is legal to buy and manufacture signs that say false things. Moreover, the sign does not make a ...
- 210k
24
votes
Why doesn't law take into account probability?
[L]et's say you almost get run over by a car[; t]here was a very real probability that you may have been runover […], but you didn't. Why isn't there some civil repercussions for that?
Construing the ...
- 3,875
23
votes
How do trademarks apply to Open Source?
Being or not being open source makes fairly little difference in trademark law.
If a commercial firm (Yoyodyne, say) had used the name "Portable Network Graphics" and the abbreviation "...
- 113k
22
votes
Liability of products that are inherently risky (e.g. skateboard)
united-states
Theories Of Product Liability In Tort
There are three basic theories of product liability in tort (setting aside breach of warranty claims) under state law in most U.S. states.
...
- 195k
22
votes
Accepted
Is there liablility if Alice startles Bob and Bob damages something?
I will assume that whatever Alice did to startle Bob was a breach of a duty that she owed to Bob, in order to get to what I see as the more interesting aspect of the question: whether Bob's ...
- 43.3k
22
votes
My bag falls off the overhead rack of a train onto the seat below. In case of damage or injury, who is liable and what to do?
It depends on whose (in)actions caused the damage. Perhaps passenger A was negligent in positioning their luggage in the overhead rack. Possibly passenger B was negligent in rearranging A's bag. Rail ...
- 210k
21
votes
Accepted
Neighborly liability?
You can start here, with the attractive nuisance doctrine, which is aimed at children and the fact that they don't have adult common sense. The extent to which you are at risk depends on your ...
- 210k
21
votes
Can I be liable for vandalism if I have posted a political sign on the property?
The only avenue for tenant liability would be if the tenant is responsible for the damage. The courts have not assigned responsibility for damage resulting from other people's disagreement with a ...
- 210k
21
votes
Accepted
How would one protect one self from a suit while skiing?
united-states
I am skiing and cause unintentional injury to another slope
patron/client. How would I protect myself from being sued?
Use reasonable care to avoid harming others, and follow all ...
- 195k
19
votes
Why doesn't law take into account probability?
I think the lay person answer to this is very different from the legal-specific answer.
Civil law, a lawsuit for damages, primarily exists to make a damaged party whole. Thus, the actual damage you ...
- 1,127
19
votes
How would one protect one self from a suit while skiing?
This is what liability insurance is for: It covers you if you accidentally cause damage to someone else. My understanding is that liability insurance would typically handle the entire legal process ...
- 1,005
17
votes
Accepted
Liability for explosive theft prevention
Yes. This sounds equivalent to the famous case of Katko v. Briney, 183 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 1971). A shotgun trap was set up in an abandoned house owned by Edward and Bertha Briney. A thief broke in ...
- 5,880
17
votes
Accepted
Contractor does work on the wrong house
united-states
This is the classic fact pattern under which the contractor is entitled to an unjust enrichment remedy (and also often, a mechanic's lien remedy), even though there is no breach of ...
- 195k
17
votes
Contractor does work on the wrong house
australia
TL;DR
If you're a contractor who screws up like this, chalk it up to experience and move along.
Unjust Enrichment
Here we run into some very choppy waters in Australian jurisprudence.
While ...
- 198k
16
votes
Accepted
Can a website incur liability for linking to a funding campaign for a lawsuit against it?
Yes
The directors of a company have a fiduciary duty to act within the law for the benefit of their shareholders - not to their customers, not to the government, not to the environment and not to the ...
- 198k
15
votes
Can I be liable for vandalism if I have posted a political sign on the property?
You will not be legally liable. You are not responsible for other people's irrational or even violent reactions to your protected speech. If you could be held liable for other people's irrational or ...
- 3,216
15
votes
Accepted
Can one be liable to pay an agreed sum if they break a promise?
Assuming there is a contract (and it is not clear that there is), this is a purported liquidated damages clause. Alice is trying to dictate what Bob will owe her if he breaches his promise to not ...
- 43.3k
14
votes
If I accidentally leaked my school's IP address and someone attempts a DDoS attack on my school am I at fault?
tl;dr- I don't see how you can "leak" a large organization's IP addresses given that they seem to be very public information. However, misusing an organization's network services or/and ...
- 247
14
votes
If a stolen item is stolen again, who has the liability?
Everything may theoretically vary by jurisdiction, which you haven't specified.
Stolen property remains the property of the lawful owner.
Assuming that Person A can demonstrate their lawful ...
- 351
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible