Newsletters

Acts of God

In the context of the law, an "act of God" is an accident caused by extraordinary natural forces. An accident caused by lightning, a flood, a hurricane, or an earthquake may constitute an act of God.

Professional Rescuers

A rescuer who comes to the aid of a victim of a peril may be either an amateur or a professional, such as a firefighter or a police officer. With respect to amateur rescuers, the "rescue doctrine" may apply to allow the rescuer to recover against the creator of the victim's peril for injuries that he sustains during the rescue. However, professional rescuers are generally unable to rely on the rescue doctrine to recover for their injuries. Instead, the "fireman's rule" ordinarily prevents professionals from recovering without regard to the negligence of the creator of the peril.

Invasion of Privacy--Appropriation

The law provides everyone with some basic rights to privacy. Privacy is the general right to be left alone and free from unwanted publicity. Unreasonable invasion of one's privacy causes harm.

Liability for a Bystander's Emotional Distress

In some cases, a bystander may recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress, even though the bystander was not directly involved in an accident. For example, a wife is walking along a city street. By chance, she sees her husband's car approaching.

Liability of an Airline Passenger for Providing Medical Assistance to Another Passenger

Generally, an airline passenger is not legally liable for the consequences of providing medical assistance to another passenger. The federal Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 provides that a person is not liable for providing or attempting to provide assistance in the case of an in-flight medical emergency, unless the person, while rendering such assistance, is guilty of gross negligence or willful misconduct.