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Torts—MBE Attack Sequences

Step-by-step attack sequences for each Torts sub-topic, ordered most-tested-first. Run the sequence, lock the key rules, then drill the matching flowchart.

Where the points are

The zones this subject leans on hardest, and the traps that catch people.

Most tested
Negligence is the largest single MBE topic—duty, breach, causation, damages—followed by intentional torts, strict and products liability, and defamation and privacy.
Classic traps
Limited-duty situations (no duty to act, landowner duties, NIED); proximate cause and superseding intervening causes; res ipsa loquitur; comparative vs. contributory negligence; the different products-liability theories; the defamation elements plus the constitutional overlay for public figures.
  1. Intentional Torts
  2. Defenses To Intentional Torts
  3. Negligence: The Core Attack
  4. Duty: Special Situations
  5. Defenses To Negligence
  6. Strict Liability & Products Liability
  7. Defamation, Privacy & Nuisance
1

Intentional Torts

Attack sequence

  1. Intent Purpose to cause the result or knowledge it is substantially certain; intent transfers between people and among the trespassory torts.
  2. Match the tort Battery (harmful/offensive contact), assault (apprehension of imminent contact), false imprisonment (confinement), IIED (extreme and outrageous conduct), trespass to land/chattels, conversion.
  3. Causation and (for some) damages IIED requires severe distress; battery and assault need no proof of actual damage.
  4. Consider consent early Valid consent defeats the prima facie case.
2

Defenses To Intentional Torts

Attack sequence

  1. Consent Express or implied; exceeded scope, incapacity, or fraud can void it.
  2. Self-defense and defense of others Reasonable force to prevent imminent harm; deadly force only against a deadly threat.
  3. Defense of property Reasonable, non-deadly force only; no deadly mechanical devices.
  4. Necessity Public necessity is a complete defense; private necessity is qualified (actor pays for actual damage).
  5. Shopkeeper's privilege Reasonable detention on reasonable suspicion for a reasonable time.
3

Negligence: The Core Attack

Attack sequence

  1. Duty A duty of reasonable care is owed to foreseeable plaintiffs; generally no duty to act affirmatively absent a special relationship, undertaking, or created peril.
  2. Standard of care The reasonable person; adjust for children, professionals, and negligence per se from a protective statute.
  3. Breach The defendant fell below the standard; res ipsa loquitur can prove breach circumstantially.
  4. Actual cause But-for causation, or substantial factor; alternative liability shifts the burden among multiple defendants.
  5. Proximate cause Liability for foreseeable harms and plaintiffs; superseding causes cut off liability; the eggshell plaintiff is taken as found.
  6. Damages Actual injury is required; nominal damages are unavailable in negligence.
▶Walk the Negligence flowchart →
4

Duty: Special Situations

Attack sequence

  1. Land possessor duties At common law, the duty turns on the entrant's status: invitee, licensee, or trespasser.
  2. Invitee Duty to inspect, warn, and make safe known and reasonably discoverable dangers.
  3. Licensee Duty to warn of known concealed dangers; no duty to inspect.
  4. Trespasser No duty except to avoid wanton conduct; warn known trespassers of hidden artificial hazards; attractive nuisance for child trespassers.
  5. Affirmative duties Arise from special relationships, voluntary undertakings, and creation of the peril.
  6. NIED Zone of danger or bystander with close relationship and contemporaneous perception.
5

Defenses To Negligence

Attack sequence

  1. Comparative fault Pure comparative reduces recovery by the plaintiff's share; modified bars recovery at 50 percent or more fault.
  2. Contributory negligence In the few contributory states, any plaintiff fault is a complete bar (with a last-clear-chance exception).
  3. Assumption of risk Express or implied knowing and voluntary encountering of a known risk.
  4. Order of operations Establish the prima facie case first, then apportion or bar with a defense.
6

Strict Liability & Products Liability

Attack sequence

  1. Strict liability categories Abnormally dangerous activities, wild animals, and animals with known dangerous propensities.
  2. Products: proper defendant A commercial seller in the chain of distribution.
  3. Type of defect Manufacturing defect (departs from design), design defect (reasonable alternative or consumer expectation), or inadequate warning.
  4. Causation and damages The defect existed when it left the defendant and caused the injury.
  5. Defenses Misuse that is unforeseeable, alteration, and comparative fault.
7

Defamation, Privacy & Nuisance

Attack sequence

  1. Defamation elements A defamatory statement of or concerning the plaintiff, published to a third party, causing harm to reputation.
  2. Public concern overlay A public figure must prove actual malice; a private figure on a public matter must prove at least negligence.
  3. Privacy torts Appropriation, intrusion upon seclusion, false light, and public disclosure of private facts.
  4. Nuisance Private nuisance is a substantial and unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of land; public nuisance harms the community.
  5. Vicarious liability An employer is liable for employee torts within the scope of employment; generally not for independent contractors.

A study aid in my own words, not legal advice—always confirm against your bar's materials.