Duties of Landowners & Occupiers
What have we learned about duty so far?
Duties of Landowners & Occupiers
Carter v. Kinney
Traditional View
| Type of Visitor | Definition |
|---|---|
| ??? | ??? |
| ??? | ??? |
| ??? | ??? |
Traditional View
| Type of Visitor | Definition |
|---|---|
| Trespasser | ??? |
| Licensee | ??? |
| Invitee | ??? |
Traditional View
| Type of Visitor | Definition |
|---|---|
| Trespasser | Intruder |
| Licensee | Social guest |
| Invitee | Business guest or general public (if land opened to public) |
Duties Owed — Traditional View
Trespasser
duty not to intentionally or wantonly cause injury
no duty of reasonable care (with handful of exceptions)
Licensee
no duty to inspect or discover dangerous conditions
duty to warn or make known conditions safe
Invitee
duty to inspect and discover dangerous conditions
duty to warn or make conditions safe
Heins v. Webster County
Modern View
| Type of Visitor | Definition |
|---|---|
| ??? | ??? |
| ??? | ??? |
Modern View
| Type of Visitor | Definition |
|---|---|
| Trespasser | Intruder |
| Everybody else | Not a trespasser |
Duties Owed — Modern View
Trespasser1
duty not to intentionally or wantonly cause injury
no duty of reasonable care (with handful of exceptions)
Everybody Else
duty of reasonable care
Traditional View
vs.
Modern View
Exercise 1:
Letter from Colleague
Exercise 2:
Optometrist Duty to 3rd Parties
Rowland Factors
- foreseeability of harm
- certainty of plaintiff’s injury
- connection between defendant’s conduct and plaintiff’s injury
- moral blame
- policy of preventing harm
- burden to defendant
- consequences to community
- availability of insurance
Or in California and the Third Restatement, a “flagrant” trespasser rather than just a plain old trespasser ↩︎