52
votes
Can a bank sue someone that disseminates information that starts a bank run that destroys the bank?
Can a bank sue someone that starts a bank run that destroys the bank?
No (assuming, of course, as is the usual case, that the person who starts the bank run is not engaged in perpetrating a ...
- 186k
43
votes
Accepted
Can I viably sue for damages caused by bugs in freeware?
No, you can't
The last paragraph of the MIT License explicitly says the author is not responsible for damages (emphasis mine):
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,...
- 1,525
39
votes
Why does the U.S. have much higher litigation cost than other countries?
Litigation Costs v. Liability Insurance Cost
It is worth noting that what the Institute for Legal Reform, a tort reform lobbying group, is stating, is not that the U.S. has "higher litigation ...
- 186k
27
votes
Can I viably sue for damages caused by bugs in freeware?
In addition to the argument that that particular license contains a disclaimer of liability as a condition of the license grant, you have no privity with the author.
The license binds your use of the ...
26
votes
Can a bank sue someone that disseminates information that starts a bank run that destroys the bank?
netherlands
In The Netherlands, DSB Bank went bankrupt after investigator Pieter Lakeman, representative of a foundation of dissatisfied customers of the bank, called for a bank run, his argument ...
- 397
25
votes
Someone has a video of me doing drugs. Is there legal protection against its release?
The tort for this kind of activity is called public disclosure of private facts, and almost every U.S. state recognizes that this tort is invalid under the First Amendment in the absence of a legal ...
- 186k
22
votes
Is lying on a survey illegal?
There are a very few government surveys which it is a crime to lie in responding to, most notably, census related surveys. Proving that a representation is false with respect to some questions (e.g. ...
- 186k
16
votes
Is lying on a survey illegal?
Is lying on a survey illegal?
An intentional misrepresentation is actionable to the extent that (1) it causes harm, and (2) the surveyor's reliance on those representations is justified. The latter ...
- 45k
16
votes
Accepted
Civil liability for criminal punishment
In england-and-wales, Mark's claim is likely to fail. There are several overlapping principles, which are different rules of law but which all point to the same outcome:
"It is a rule of law and ...
- 3,357
12
votes
Accepted
How far does legal gymnastics go to remove liability?
england-and-wales
"A term in a consumer contract is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good
faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations
under the ...
- 12.2k
12
votes
Accepted
What is the duty of a medical office to properly bill one's insurance? (USA)
To my knowledge there is no actual law requiring a provider to file anything on your behalf. Most do it as a courtesy but if you read the terms of service that you almost certainly agreed to, it will ...
- 3,498
12
votes
What legal relief is available when a neighbour uses my address as his own for communication without written consent from me?
Mark the mail delivered as "addressee unknown, return to sender" and give it to the postal delivery person next time around. If the mail stops getting through, the neighbor will update their ...
- 186k
12
votes
What legal relief is available when a neighbour uses my address as his own for communication without written consent from me?
Based on the description, there is no legal relief available.
To quote:
a tort is breach of a non-contractual duty which has caused damage to
the plaintiff giving rise to a civil cause of action and ...
- 223
11
votes
Sue a university for armed robbery
Probably not.
Overview
You haven't specified a jurisdiction. I will talk about Australia because that's what I'm familiar with.
In Australia the most relevant area of law would be tort, ...
- 4,244
11
votes
Can you sue someone for stealing a slice of pizza?
If it’s your pizza, yes
The civil equivalent of theft is the tort of conversion, “consisting of "taking with the intent of exercising over the chattel an ownership inconsistent with the real ...
- 192k
10
votes
Is unwanted touching ever legal?
To use Texas as an example:
Sec. 22.01. ASSAULT. (a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another, including the ...
- 23.4k
10
votes
Civil liability for criminal punishment
In the hypothetical jurisdiction a duty of care arose in the circumstances and Eve breached the duty, causing damages to Mark, which gives Mark a cause of action against Eve.
Although in the ...
- 12.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to spray weeds on another person's land without permission, and thus to harm animals?
You would need to be able to prove that he encroached on your land (or your tenancy to land) with his pesticide/herbicide. You should speak to him and let him know that you feel his herbicide made its ...
- 11.2k
9
votes
Someone has a video of me doing drugs. Is there legal protection against its release?
I know nothing about the law.
What I have heard from others (that also know nothing) is that in some countries/states it might be illegal to record audio/video without the recording party being ...
- 209
8
votes
Accepted
Is unwanted touching ever legal?
This has been a long-considered matter. Under common law, unwanted incidental touching - say, in the context of a public space - is not illegal per se.
In Cole v. Turner (1704) 87 ER 907, Holt CJ ...
- 12k
8
votes
Alternate recourse to assault
There's always civil action possible; "assault and battery" has a civil variant as an "intentional tort"
Civil assault and battery are torts. A tort is a wrong committed by one ...
- 2,994
8
votes
Does a duty of care arise from advertised functionality?
Jurisdiction: england-and-wales.
You don't necessarily need to turn to tort law to find a duty of care. For example, assuming the customer is a consumer (i.e. not operating as part of their business) ...
- 6,315
8
votes
Accepted
What is tort law and how does it differ from civil law?
First, civil law has, confusingly, two meanings. It can denote the legal systems used in most of Europe, as opposed to the common-law systems arising in England and spreading to most of the former ...
- 33.9k
8
votes
Can a bank sue someone that disseminates information that starts a bank run that destroys the bank?
I recall an actual case where there was a threat to prosecute: it was over 35 years ago in Auckland, where I was living at the time.
A woman who was a customer of the Building Society attempted to ...
- 948
7
votes
Is it illegal to throw water or soda on people?
Yes.
It is a crime almost everywhere to throw something at someone, even if it causes little or no injury. Usually it would be classified as "assault and battery" although if it damages clothing or ...
- 186k
7
votes
Are disabilities taken into consideration when establishing jurisdiction?
No
In general, there is no need for a plaintiff, defendant, or witness to attend court in person if there is a legitimate impediment to them doing so.
Parties can be represented by their lawyers, ...
- 192k
7
votes
Accepted
Is misrepresentation a tort or a breach?
What misrepresentation?
Alice said she buried the money there. That the money is not there now is not evidence that she didn’t. it’s evidence that something happened to it between then and now.
...
- 192k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible