Legal Terminology and Concepts, Exams of Insurance law

Download Legal Terminology and Concepts and more Exams Insurance law in PDF only on Docsity!

CPCU 530 Exam with correct answers

Doctrine of stare decisis - correct answer -The principle that lower courts must follow precedents set by higher courts. Equity - correct answer -Fairness, or a body of principles constituting what is fair and right. Criminal law - correct answer -The branch of the law that imposes penalties for wrongs against society. Civil Law - correct answer -A classification of law that applies to legal matters not governed by criminal law and that protect rights and provides remedies for breaches of duties owed to others. Substantive Law - correct answer -A classification of law that creates, defines, and regulates parties' rights, duties, and powers. Procedural Law - correct answer -A classification of law that prescribes the steps, or processes, for enforcing the rights and duties defined by substantive law. Equal Protection Clause - correct answer -A part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibiting state laws that discriminate unfairly or arbitrarily, and requiring equal treatment to all persons under the like circumstances and conditions. National Association of Insurance Commissioners NAIC - correct answer -An association of insurance commissioners from the fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories and possessions, whose purpose is to coordinate insurance regulation activities among the various state insurance departments. Original jurisdiction - correct answer -The power of a court in which cases are initiated to hear those cases. Diversity jurisdiction - correct answer -The authority of federal district courts to hear cases involving parties from different states that involve amounts in controversy over a legal minimum.

Writ of certiorari - correct answer -An appellate court's order directing a lower court to deliver its record in a case for appellate review. Conflicts of law - correct answer -A body of law that resolves questions when states' laws conflict. Administrative law - correct answer -The statutory laws that grant power to administrative agencies to act and the body of law that is created by administrative agencies themselves. Allegation - correct answer -A claim made in the complaint by the plaintiff, specifying what the plaintiff expects to prove to obtain a judgment against the defendant. Complaint - correct answer -The allegations made by a plaintiff in a lawsuit. Pleading - correct answer -A formal written statement of the facts and claims of each party to a lawsuit. Cause of action - correct answer -A plaintiff's legal grounds to sue a defendant. Answer - correct answer -A document filed in court by a defendant responding to a plaintiff's complaint and explaining why the plaintiff should not win the case. Counterclaim - correct answer -A complain brought by the defendant against the plaintiff. Motion - correct answer -A formal request for the court to take a particular action. Motion to dismiss - correct answer -A request that a court terminate an action because of settlement, voluntary withdrawal, or procedural defect. Motion for summary judgment - correct answer -A pretrial request asking the court to enter a judgment when no material facts are in dispute.

Discovery - correct answer -A pretrial exchange of all relevant information between the plaintiff and defendant. Deposition - correct answer -A pretrial discovery tool involving oral examination of a witness to produce a written verbatim record. Interrogatories - correct answer -Specific written questions or requests raised by one party to a lawsuit that the opposing party must answer in writing. Subpoena - correct answer -A legal order to a witness to appear at a certain place and time to testify or to product documents. Direct examination - correct answer -Questioning one's own witness during a legal proceeding. Cross-examination - correct answer -Questioning an opposing party during a legal proceeding to bring out information favorable to the questioner's own position or to challenge the witness's testimony. Relevance - correct answer -A quality of evidence that suggests the evidence is more or less likely to be true. Materiality - correct answer -A quality of evidence that tends to establish a particular element of the claim that has legal significance. Competence - correct answer -A quality of evidence that suggests the source is reliable and the evidence is adequate to justify admission in court. Hearsay rule - correct answer -The rule of evidence that prevents the admission of out-of-court statements not made under oath by a person who is unavailable to testify. General verdict - correct answer -A kind of verdict that entails a complete finding and a single conclusion by a jury on all issues presented.

Special verdict - correct answer -A kind of verdict reached by a jury that makes findings of fact by answering specific questions posed by the judge. The judge then applies the law to the facts as the jury has found them. Res judicata - correct answer -A doctrine that bars parties to a lawsuit on which final judgment has been rendered from bringing a second lawsuit on the same claim or on related transactions. Alternative dispute resolution - ADR - correct answer -Procedures to help settle disputes without litigation, including arbitration, medication, and negotiation. Mediation - correct answer -An alternative dispute resolution (ADR) method by which disputing parties use a neutral outside party to examine the issues and develop a mutually agreeable settlement. Legislative rule - correct answer -A type of substantive administration agency rule that comes from a statutory delegation of authority and that has the same force as a law enacted by Congress or a legislature. Interpretative rule - correct answer -A type of administrative agency rule that interprets statutes, providing guidance for agency staff or regulated parties, but that lacks the force and effect of law and therefore is not binding on individuals. Procedural rule - correct answer -A type of administrative agency rule that prescribes procedures for agency operations, legislative rule making and adjudication proceedings. Standing to sue - correct answer -A party's right to sue, as one who has suffered or will suffer a legal wrong or an adverse effect from an action. Final order - correct answer -An administrative agency's final conclusion or disposition of any material private right of a party, terminating an agency proceeding. Exhaustion of administrative remedies - correct answer -The completion of all possible administrative procedures and appeals in a case; required before a party can appeal an agency action to a court.

Contract - correct answer -A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties in which each party makes some promise to the other. Promisor - correct answer -The party to a contract making a promise. Promisee - correct answer -The party to a contract to whom a promise is made. Privity of contract - correct answer -The relationship that exists between the parties to a contract. Third-party beneficiary - correct answer -A person who is not a party to a contract but who benefits from it and has a legal right to enforce the contract if it is breached by either of the contracting parties. Breach of contract - correct answer -The failure, without legal excuse, to fulfill a contractual promise. Bilateral contract - correct answer -A contract in which each party promises a performance. Unilateral contract - correct answer -A contract in which only one party makes a promise or undertakes the requested performance. Executed contract - correct answer -A contract that has been completely performed by both parties. Executory contract - correct answer -A contract that has not been completely performed by one or both of the parties. Express contract - correct answer -A contract whose terms and intentions are explicitly stated. Implied contract - correct answer -A contract whose terms and intentions are indicated by the actions of the parties to the contract and the surrounding circumstances. Implied-in-fact contract - correct answer -A contract that is not express but that the parties presumably intended, either by tacit understanding or by he assumption that it existed.

Implied-in-law contract - correct answer -An obligation that is not an actual contract but that is imposed by law because of the parties' conduct or some special relationship between them or because one ofhtem would otherwise be unjustly enriched. Voidable contract - correct answer -A contract that one of the parties can reject (avoid) based on some circumstance surrounding its execution. Void contract - correct answer -An agreement that, despite the parties' intentions, never reaches contract status and is therefore not legally enforceable or binding. Offer - correct answer -A promise that requires some action by the intended recipient to make an agreement. Offeror - correct answer -The party to a contract who promises to give something in return for a promise or an act by another party. Offeree - correct answer -The party to a contract who makes a promise or acts in return for something offered by another party. Counteroffer - correct answer -A proposal an offer makes to an offeror that varies in some material way from the original offer, resulting in rejection of the original offer and constituting a new offer. Acceptance - correct answer -The assent to an offer that occurs when the party to whom an offer has been made either agrees to the proposal or does what has been proposed. Forbearance - correct answer -The act of giving up or the promise to give up a legal right. Substantial performance - correct answer -The performance of the primary, necessary terms of an agreement. Competent party - correct answer -A party to a contract who has the basic or minimal ability to do something and the mental ability to understand problems and make decisions.

Restitution - correct answer -The return of specific property by court order. Consideration - correct answer -Something of value or bargained for and exchanged by the parties to a contract. Good consideration - correct answer -Consideration based on natural love or affection, or on moral duty, that is not sufficient to support a contract. Valuable consideration - correct answer -The consideration necessary and sufficient to support a valid contract. Gratuitous promise - correct answer -A promise not supported by valuable consideration and, therefore, not binding. Accord and satisfaction - correct answer -An agreement (accord) to substitute performance other than that required in a contract and the carrying out of that agreement (satisfaction). Promissory estoppel - correct answer -A legal principle that permits enforcement of a promise made without consideration in order to prevent injustice. Insurable interest - correct answer -An interest in the subject of an insurance policy that is not unduly remote and that would cause the interested part to suffer financial loss if an insured event occurred. Usury - correct answer -The charging of an illegally high rate of interest on a loan. Negligence - correct answer -The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable person in a similar situation would exercise to avoid harming others. Exculpatory clause (exculpatory agreement) - correct answer -A contractual provision purporting to excuse a party from liability resulting from negligence or an otherwise wrongful act.

Noncompete agreement - correct answer -An agreement between an employer (the principal) and an employee (the agent) to protect the employer's customers, trade secrets, confidential information and other items for a specific period after an employee relationship has been terminated. In pari delicto agreement - correct answer -An illegal transaction in which both parties are equally at fault. Severable contract - correct answer -A contract that includes two or more promises, each of which a court can enforce separately. Genuine assent - correct answer -Contracting parties' actual assent to form a contract or their indication of intent to contract by their actions and words. Fraud - correct answer -An intentional misrepresentation resulting in harm to a person or organization. Representation - correct answer -A statement of fact or opinion made by the insured when applying for insurance, usually in response to a question from the insurer. Material fact - correct answer -In insurance, a fact that would affect the insurer's decision to provide or maintain insurance or to settle a claim. Rescission - correct answer -A legal action that voids a principal's bid. Mistake - correct answer -A perception that does not agree with the facts. Unilateral mistake - correct answer -A perception by one party to a contract that does not agree with the facts. Bilateral mistake - correct answer -A perception by both parties to a contract that does not agree with the facts.

Duress - correct answer -The use of restraint, violence, or threats of violence to compel a party to act contrary to his or her wishes or interests. Undue influence - correct answer -The improper use of power to trust to deprive person of free will and substitute another's objective, resulting in lack of genuine assent to a contract. Statute of frauds - correct answer -A law to prevent fraud and perjury by requiring that certain contracts be in writing and contain the signature of the party responsible for performing that contract. Real property (realty) - correct answer -Tangible property consisting of land, all structures permanently attached to the land, and whatever is growing on the land. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) - correct answer -A model code that has been adopted in whole or in part by each state. Its purpose is to provide a consistent legal basis for business transactions throughout the United States and its territories. Its articles cover the sale and lease of goods; negotiable instruments; banks and banking; funds transfers; letters of credit; bulk transfers and bulk sales; warehouse receipts, bills of lading and other documents of title; investment securities; and secured transactions. Condition precedent - correct answer -An event that must occur before a duty of performance arises in a contract. Parol evidence rule - correct answer -A rule of evidence that limits the terms of a contract evidenced by a writing to those expressed in writing. Assignment - correct answer -The transfer of rights or property. Assignor - correct answer -The party to a contract who makes an assignment. Assignee - correct answer -The individual or entity to whom property, rights, or interests have been transferred.

Third-Party beneficiary contract - correct answer -A contract between two parties that benefits a third party. Creditor beneficiary - correct answer -A third-party beneficiary owed a debt that is to be satisfied by performance of a contract. Donee beneficiary - correct answer -A third-party beneficiary who received the benefit of a contract's performance as a gift from the promisee, with the intent of the contracting parties. Incidental beneficiary - correct answer -A third-party beneficiary who has no contractual rights but benefits from a contract even though that is not the intent of the parties to the contract. Tender - correct answer -An offer to perform one's duties under a contract. Novation - correct answer -The substitution of a third party for one of the original parties to a contract, releasing the original party from rights and obligations under the contract. Condition concurrent - correct answer -An event that must occur at the same time as another condition in a contract. Condition subsequent - correct answer -An event that, if it occurs, discharges a duty of performance in a contract. Repudiation - correct answer -A party's refusal to meet obligations under a contract. Anticipatory breach - correct answer -A party's unequivocal indication before contract performance is due that he or she wilt perform when performance is due. Material breach of contract - correct answer -Violation of the agreement that would justify an owner's termination of the contract.

Compensatory damages - correct answer -A payment awarded by a court to reimburse a victim for actual harm. Consequential damages - correct answer -A payment awarded by a court to indemnify an injured party for loss that result indirectly form a wrong such as a breach of contract or a tort. Punitive damages (exemplary damages) - correct answer -A payment awarded by a court to punish a defendant for a reckless, malicious, or deceitful act to deter similar conduct; the award need not bear any relation to a party's actual damages. Bad faith (outrage) - correct answer -An intentional or reckless act, extreme or outrageous in nature, causing severe emotional distress that results in physical injury; generally applied in suits for breach of insurance contracts. Extracontractual damages - correct answer -A payment awarded by a court that exceeds the usual contract damages for a breach of contract. Mitigation of damages - correct answer -A duty owed by an injured party to a claim to take reasonable measures to minimize or avoid additional injury or loss. Liquidated damages - correct answer -A reasonable estimation of actual damages, agreed to by contracting parties and included in the contract, to be paid in the event of a breach or for negligence. Specific performance - correct answer -A court-ordered equitable remedy requiring a party to perform a certain act, often - but not always - as a result of breach of a contract. Injunction - correct answer -A court-ordered equitable remedy requiring a party to act or refrain from acting. Conditional contract - correct answer -A contract that one or more parties must perform only under certain conditions.

Utmost good faith - correct answer -An obligation to act in complete honesty and to disclose all relevant facts. Misrepresentation - correct answer -A false statement of a material fact on which a party relies. Incontestable clause - correct answer -Clause that states that the insurer cannot contest the policy after it has been in force for a specified period, such as two years, during the insured's lifetime. Contestable period - correct answer -A period during which an insurer can challenge the validity of a life insurance policy. Contract of adhesion - correct answer -Any contract in which one party must either accept the agreement as written by the other party or reject it. Contract of indemnity - correct answer -A contract in which the insurer agrees, in the event of a covered loss, to pay an amount directly related to the amount of the loss. Principle of indemnity - correct answer -The principle that insurance policies should provide a benefit no greater than the loss suffered by an insured. Valued policy - correct answer -A policy in which the insurer pays a stated amount in the event of a specified loss (usually a total loss), regardless of the actual value of the loss. Binder - correct answer -A temporary written or oral agreement to provide insurance coverage until a formal written policy is issued. Direct-action statute - correct answer -A law that permits negligence victim to sue an insurer directly or to sue both the insurer and wrongdoer jointly. Waiver - correct answer -The intentional relinquishment of a known right.

Estoppel - correct answer -A legal principle that prohibits a party from asserting a claim or right that is inconsistent with that party's past statement or conduct on which another party has detrimentally relied. Election - correct answer -The voluntary act of choosing between two alternative rights or privileges. Nonwaiver agreement - correct answer -A signed agreement indicating that during the course of investigation, neither the insurer nor the insured waives rights under the policy. Reservation of rights letter - correct answer -An insurer's letter that specifies coverage issues and informs the insured that the insurer is handling a claim with the understanding that the insurer may later deny coverage should the facts warrant it. Statutes of fraud - correct answer -A collection of laws that help prevent parties from becoming involved in fraudulently formed contracts. Risk - correct answer -The chance of financial loss. COD (collect on delivery) - correct answer -A shipping condition under which the buyer pays when the goods are delivered and has no right to inspect the goods as a condition to acceptance and payment. Implied warranty of merchantability - correct answer -An implied warranty that a product is fit for the ordinary purpose for which it is used. Implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose - correct answer -An implied warranty that a product is fit for a particular purpose; applies if the seller knows about the buyer's purpose for the product. Implied warranty of title - correct answer -An implied promise in a contract for the sale of goods that the seller has legal ownership of goods and has no knowledge of any security interest or other lien on the good other than those disclosed to the buyer. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) - correct answer -Legislation for commercial transactions that provides the trade creditor certain rights and legal remedies in a situation in which a buyer defaults.

Primary liability - correct answer -The absolute obligation to pay a negotiable instrument accounting to its terms. Secondary liability - correct answer -The obligation to pay a negotiable instrument only if someone else refuse to pay or to accept the instrument. Personal defense - correct answer -A claim to an instrument by any person and any defense that would be effective in a simple contract transaction. Real defense - correct answer -A defense of an obligor of a negotiable instrument that may be asserted even against holder in due course. Warehouse receipt - correct answer -A legal document that provides title to the goods in storage and assures delivery to the holder of the receipt. Bill of lading - correct answer -A document acknowledging receipt of goods from the shipper, given by the carrier which includes the terms of the contract of carriage for the goods. Carrier - correct answer -A person or organization in the business of transporting property of others. Bailment - correct answer -The temporary transfer of a property's custody. Bailor - correct answer -The owner of the personal property in a bailment. Bailee - correct answer -The party temporarily possessing the personal property in a bailment. Consignor - correct answer -The party who is shipping goods. Consignee - correct answer -The person or organization that receives property being transported by a carrier.

Collateral - correct answer -Cash, or near cash assets, that a principal pledges to secure credit, a loan, or other obligation. Security interest - correct answer -An interest in property (real or personal) that allows the property to be sold on default to satisfy the debt for which the security interest was given. Pledge - correct answer -A security device by which a borrower guarantees payment by delivering collateral to the lender to hold as security for the debt. Chattel - correct answer -Tangible, movable personal property Perfected security interest - correct answer -A security agreement that has been filed with the appropriate court to provide the surety a priority interest over others who may also have security interests in the property. Constructive notice - correct answer -Knowledge that a person is assumed by law to have because that knowledge could be gained by reasonable observation or inspection. Holder in due course - correct answer -The person to whom a negotiable instrument has been issued or endorsed and who possesses it for value, in good faith and without notice that it may not be valid, can be claimed by another, is overdue or was previously dishonored. Lien - correct answer -A creditor's legal right or interest in another's property, usually lasting until satisfaction of the specific debt or duty that the lien secures. Bankruptcy law - correct answer -The body of federal law that allows debtors who are unable to pay their creditors to divide their assets among their creditors to discharge the debts. Intellectual property rights - correct answer -The legal entitlement attached to the expressed form of an idea or of other intangible subject matter.

Copyright - correct answer -The legal right granted by the United States government to a person or organization for a period of years to exclusively own and control an original written document, piece of music, software, or other form of expression. Patent - correct answer -The right granted by the United States government to an inventor or applicant for a limited time period to exclusively own and control a new, useful and non obvious invention. Accession - correct answer -An increase or addition to property. Confusion - correct answer -In property law, the intermingling of goods belonging to different owners. Gift - correct answer -The voluntary and gratuitous transfer of property without consideration. Donee - correct answer -The recipient of a gift. Bailment - correct answer -The temporary possession by one party (the bailee) of personal property owned by another party (the bailor) for a specific purpose, such as cleaning or repair. Possessory lien - correct answer -A bailee's right to retain possession of a bailor's property as security for the payment of a debt or performance of some other act. Fee simple estate - correct answer -A full ownership interest in property with the unconditional right to dispose of it. Life estate - correct answer -An interest in which a person, called a life tenant, is entitled to possession of real property and to all income the land produces for the duration of that person's or someone else's life; the interest terminates on the death of the life tenant (or of the other person during whose life the life tenant possesses the property) and does not pass to this or her estate. Tenancy - correct answer -A right to possession or ownership, or both, of property.

Joint tenancy - correct answer -A concurrently owned and undivided interest in an estate that transfers to a surviving joint tenant upon the death of the other. Tenancy by the entirety - correct answer -A joint tenancy between husband and wife. Tenancy in common - correct answer -A concurrent ownership of property, in equal or unequal shares, by two or more joint tenants who lack survivorship rights. Community property - correct answer -Property owned or acquired by both spouses during a marriage by their communal efforts. Each spouse has an undivided one-half interest in the community property. Cooperative ownership - correct answer -Ownership, usually of real property such as an apartment building, by a corporation, the stockholders of which receive long-term proprietary leases to a portion of the property and a proportional vote in its affairs based on the number of shares owned. Condominium - correct answer -A real estate development consisting of a group of units, in which the air space within the boundaries of each unit is owned by the unit owner, and all remaining real and personal property is owned jointly by all the unit owners. Deed - correct answer -A written instrument that transfers interest in real property. Vendor - correct answer -The seller of real property. Vendee - correct answer -The purchaser of real property. Grantor - correct answer -One who conveys property to another. Grantee - correct answer -The buyer of real property after execution of the deed. Mortgagor - correct answer -The person or organization that borrows money from a mortgagee to finance the purchase of real property.

Mortgagee - correct answer -A lender in a mortgage arrangement, such as a bank or another financing institution. Foreclosure - correct answer -A legal proceeding to terminate a mortgagor's interest in property; the mortgagee's remedy when the mortgagor defaults on payments. Trust deed; Deed of trust; trust indenture - correct answer -A secured interest in real property that is held by a trustee to protect the lender (beneficiary) until the loan is repaid by the borrower (truster). Mechanic's lien - correct answer -A lien, granted by law to anyone who repairs a specific piece of property, that secures payment for the repairs. Adverse possession - correct answer -The claim of ownership of land by possession that is exclusive, open, hostile, unpermitted and continuous for a statutory period. Lateral support - correct answer -A property owner's right to have land supported by the land adjacent to it. Subjacent support - correct answer -A property owner's right to have land supported by the earth below it. Trade fixtures - correct answer -Fixtures and equipment that may be attached to a building during a tenant's occupancy, with the intention that they be removed when the tenant leaves. Improvements and betterments - correct answer -Alterations or additions made to the building at the expense of an insured who does not own the building and who cannot legally remove them. Incorporeal interest - correct answer -A nonmaterial interest in real property. Easement - correct answer -A nonpossessory right to use another person's real property for a particular purpose.

Profits a prendre - correct answer -A right or privilege to enter another's land and take away something of value from its soil or from the products of its soil. License - correct answer -The permission to use real property for a particular purpose. Zoning - correct answer -A government's regulation of building construction and occupancy and of land use according to a comprehensive plan. Exclusionary zoning - correct answer -The act of restricting land use either by prohibiting additional building or by requiring high standards. Spot zoning - correct answer -A provision in a general zoning plan that assigns a different use for a small area of land than that of the surrounding area. Special exception - correct answer -A land use explicitly permitted by a zoning ordinance but subject to certain limitations. Variance - correct answer -An exception to the strict application of a zoning ordinance to permit a use that is not permitted otherwise. Hardship variance - correct answer -An exception to the application of a zoning ordinance for lots that, because of size, topography, or other physical limitations, do not conform to the ordinance requirements for the zone. Use variance - correct answer -An exception to the application of a zoning ordinance to permit an otherwise prohibited use within the zone. Nonconforming use - correct answer -A land use that is impermissible under current zoning restrictions but that is allowed because the use was lawful before the restrictions took effect. Building codes - correct answer -Local ordinances or state statutes that regulate the construction of buildings within a municipality, county or state.

Eminent domain - correct answer -The right of a government to seize private property for public use. Condemnation proceeding - correct answer -A legal procedure by which a government body seeks a court's permission to seize private property by eminent domain. Tenancy at will - correct answer -A landlord-tenant estate in which the tenant has permission to occupy a premises as a landlord desires. Estate for years - correct answer -A landlord-tenant estate created for a definite period. Periodic tenancy - correct answer -A landlord-tenant estate with no fixed termination date and automatic renewal until one of the parties gives notice of intent to terminate. Holdover tenant - correct answer -A tenant who has a lease for a number of years and, at the expiration of the lease, continues to occupy the premises. Tort - correct answer -A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a legally protected right. Tortfeasor - correct answer -A person or organization that has committed a tort. Plaintiff - correct answer -The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party. Defendant - correct answer -The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed. Legal duty - correct answer -An obligation imposed by law for the preservation of the legal protected rights of others. Statute - correct answer -A written law passed by a legislative body, at either the federal or state level.

Common law; case law - correct answer -Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for future cases. Reasonable person test - correct answer -A standard for the degree of care exercised in a situation that is measured by what a reasonably cautious person would or would not do under similar circumstances. Common carriers - correct answer -Airlines, railroads or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of the public seeking their offered services. Proximate cause - correct answer -A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any new and independent cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have happened. "But for" rule - correct answer -A rule used to determine whether a defendant's act was the proximate cause of a plaintiff's harm based one the determination that the plaintiff's harm could not have occurred but for the defendant's act. Substantial factor rule - correct answer -A rule used to determine proximate cause of a loss by determining which of the acts are significant factors in causing the harm. Foreseeability rule - correct answer -A rule used to determine proximate cause when a plaintiff's harm is the natural and probable consequence of the defendant's wrongful act and when an ordinarily reasonable person would have foreseen the harm. Intervening act - correct answer -An act, independent of an original act and not readily foreseeable, that breaks the chain of causation and sets a new chain of events in motion that causes harm. Concurrent causation - correct answer -A legal doctrine stating that if a loss can be attributed to two or more independent concurrent causes - one or more excluded by the policy and one covered - then the policy covers the loss. Negligence per se - correct answer -An act that is considered inherently negligent because of a violation of a law or an ordinance.

Res ipsa loquitur - correct answer -A legal doctrine that provides that, in some circumstances, negligence is inferred simply by an accident occurring. Exclusive control - correct answer -The control of only one person or entity; in tort law the control by the defendant alone of an instrument that caused harm. Comparative negligence - correct answer -A common-law principle that requires both parties to a loss to share the financial burden of the bodily injury or property damage according to their respective degrees of fault. Contributory negligence - correct answer -A common-law principle that prevents a person who has been harmed from recovering damages if that person's own negligence contributed in any way to the harm. Last clear change doctrine - correct answer -A defense to negligence that holds the party who has the last clear chance to avoid harm and fails to do so solely responsible for the harm. Assumption-of-risk defense - correct answer -A defense to negligence that bars a plaintiff's recovery for harm caused by the defendant's negligence if the plaintiff voluntarily incurred the risk of harm. Pure comparative negligence rule - correct answer -A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover damages discounted by his or her own percentage of negligence, as long as the plaintiff is not 100 percent at fault. Fifty percent comparative negligence rule - correct answer -A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is not greater than 50 percent of the total negligence leading to harm. Forty nine percent comparative negligence rule - correct answer -A comparative negligence rule that permits a plaintiff to recover reduced damages so long as the plaintiff's negligence is less than the other party's negligence. Slight versus gross rule - correct answer -A rule of comparative negligence that permits the plaintiff to recover only when the plaintiff's negligence is slight in comparison with the gross negligence of the other party.

Release - correct answer -A legally binding contract between the parties to a dispute that embodies their agreement, obligates each to fulfill the agreement, and releases both parties from further obligation to one another that relates to the dispute. Gross negligence - correct answer -An act or omission that completely disregards the safety or rights of others and is exaggerated or aggravated in nature. Immunity - correct answer -A defense that, in certain instance, shields organizations or persons from liability. Sovereign immunity; governmental immunity - correct answer -A defense to negligence that protects the government against lawsuits for tort without its consent. Proprietary function - correct answer -A local government's act that is not considered part of the business of government and that could be performed by a private enterprise. Governmental function - correct answer -An act that can be performed only by government. Administrative act; discretionary act - correct answer -An act, a decision, a recommendation or an omission made by a government official or agency within the authority of that office or agency. Ministerial act - correct answer -An act that is directed by law or other authority and that requires no individual judgment or discretion about whether or how to perform it. Charitable immunity - correct answer -A defense that shields charitable organizations from liability. Interspousal immunity - correct answer -A defense to negligence that grants immunity to one spouse from the other spouse's lawsuit for torts committed before, during, and after the marriage. Parent-child immunity - correct answer -A defense to negligence that grants immunity to parents from their children's lawsuits for torts.

Statute of limitations - correct answer -A statute that requires a plaintiff to file a lawsuit within a specific time period after the cause of action has accrued, which is often when the injury occurred or was discovered. Statute of repose - correct answer -A statute that requires a plaintiff to file a lawsuit within a specific time period after a wrongful act by a defendant, such as improper construction of a building, regardless of when the injury occurred or was discovered. Trespasser - correct answer -A person who intentionally enters onto the property of another without permission or any legal right to do so. Nuisance - correct answer -Anything interfering with another person's use or enjoyment of property. Attractive nuisance doctrine - correct answer -A doctrine treating a child as a licensee, or guest, rather than a trespasser on land containing an artificial and harmful condition that is certain to attract children. Licensee - correct answer -A person who has permission to enter onto another's property for his or her own purpose. Invitee - correct answer -Person who enters a premises for the financial benefit of the owner or occupant. Express license - correct answer -The oral or written permission to enter onto another's land to do a certain act, but not the granting of any interest in the land itself. Implied license - correct answer -The permission to enter onto another's land arising out of a relationship between the party who enters the land and the owner. Public invitee - correct answer -A person invited to enter onto premises as a member of the general public for a purpose for which the land is open to the public.

Business invitee - correct answer -An individual who has express or implied permission to be on the premises of another for the purpose of doing business. Intentional tort - correct answer -A tort committed by a person who foresees (or should be able to foresee) that his or her act will harm another person. Battery - correct answer -Intentional harmful or offensive physical contact with another person without legal justification. Assault - correct answer -The threat of force against another person that creates a well-founded fear of imminent harmful or offensive contact. False imprisonment - correct answer -The restraint or confinement of a person without consent or legal authority. False arrest - correct answer -The seizure or forcible restraint of a person without legal authority. Intentional infliction of emotional distress - correct answer -An intentional act causing mental anguish that results in physical injury. Negligent infliction of emotional distress - correct answer -An unintentional act causing mental anguish that results in physical injury. Defamation - correct answer -A false written or oral statement that harms another's reputation. Slander - correct answer -A defamatory statement expressed by speech. Libel - correct answer -A defamatory statement expressed in writing. Publication - correct answer -In tort law, the communication of a defamatory statement to another person.