22 Apr 10 What Liability insurance provides
Liability insurance provides coverage against harm that you have caused to a third party, such as personal injuries, property damage or bad business advice. Find out the different types of liability insurance, including auto liability insurance and business liability insurance, with information from a licensed insurance salesperson in this free video on insurance.
06 Apr 09 Comparing common law and civil law traditions in legal systems
Common law is the law as interpreted by judges based on traditional law of an area and law taken from English unwritten law as well as laws passed in what is now the United States before it became a nation. In England before the United States became a nation, there were two kinds of law. If a defendant went to a law court, the judge would rule based on written laws. When cases approached the judge that did not fit into any of the written laws, the judge had to make law. These laws were not written laws of the land and depended on the judge who created them. Most of these created laws had to do with property. These property created laws are called “common law” and are subject to change of judge.
Few people realize that the United States is ruled by common law. Common law taken from England were enacted as the general law of each state except for Louisiana. The State of Louisiana has laws that were written actually taken from the French civil code. For all other states, the general law of the land is common law unless there is a statute that can override the judges creativity. As interpreted currently, property laws, contracts and tort law or damage to an injured party are still up to the judge also known as common law.
Occasionally, if there is no statute, federal common law can be petitioned in a federal court. However, even in a case where federal common law has been used if Congress has intervened then the federal common law can be thrown out. By interpretation common law is the law decided by judges even federal judges. Common law can be overruled if a statute has been enacted by a State, locality or Congress.
On the other side of the scales of justice is Civil Law. Civil law is applied in cases that allege no criminal activities and seek monetary redress as in cases of contracts, deeds to properties, divorce settlements, child custody, and injury. The role of civil courts is to peacefully reach a settlement between two or more conflicting parties based on state or federal statutes. If there are no state or federal statutes, the decision of the judge is binding as in common law.
Civil law is used to deal with consumer issues, international law conflicts, agricultural or farm laws, employment matters and issues and animal laws.
03 Feb 09 Legal Liability: when it is confirmed
Legal liability is confirmed when two individuals, or one individual and an organization, become parties to a contract that binds them legally. When legal liability is breached, the party whom suffered the damage has the right to sue the damaging party for a sum of money which will somewhat compensate for the damages done.
An example is the case of a patron of a well known restaurant that contracts food poisoning while dining out at said restaurant one evening. The restaurant owner/owner’s have a contract with their patrons that the food served will be of quality taste and freshness and owes it to their patrons to make sure they don’t contract food poisoning or any other damage is incurred while dining in their establishment. This “contract” was breached when the patron who contracted food poisoning became ill on the food served that night, and the restaurant owner/owner’s are legally liable to compensate the patron for the damages suffered. Such as medical expenses, loss of wages (if the food poisoning was so severe the person couldn’t go to work the next day), or any other damages that may have incurred as a result of the restaurant’s neglect in serving the quality of food that can be reasonably expected.
The case above is what is considered as joint or several liability. All parties involved, the waiter, busboy, managers, and owners are legally liable as one entity. The patron cannot sue each party separately for the damages. The restaurant as a whole is sued as one unit and the owner or corporation owning the restaurant is the liable party that owes compensation for damages.
Another example of legal liability is when the driver of a vehicle runs a red light and hits a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The driver of the vehicle has a duty of care to make certain the pedestrian gets across the crosswalk without injury. The driver of the vehicle has breached this duty by running the red light and striking the pedestrian, causing injury. The pedestrian has a right to sue the driver for damages caused by his/her neglect.
These are just two examples of legal liability and when it is confirmed. Basically, legal liability exists whenever two or more individuals come in contact with each other in a business or personal manner. It is our legal liability and duty to treat everyone with the care and respect that we expect to be treated with.
