Business-Related Torts to Master

If you handle business litigation matters, you need to be fluent in the most common business-related torts and their elements so you can spot the issues immediately—to either allege them or defend against them. Don’t feel quite fluent yet? Don’t worry, here’s a checklist of the elements of common business-related torts to keep handy until you master them.

Inducing Breach of Contract

__ Existence of valid contract

__ Defendant’s knowledge of contract and intent to induce its breach

__ Contract breached or plaintiff’s performance prevented or rendered more expensive or burdensome

__ Causation

__ Damages

Intentional Interference with Prospective Advantage

__ Existence of economic relationship with probable future economic benefit to plaintiff

__ Defendant’s knowledge of relationship and intent to disrupt it

__ Defendant’s interference was wrongful beyond the fact of interference

__ Actual disruption of relationship

__ Causation

__ Damages

Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage

__ Existence of duty owed, based on:

__ Degree to which transaction intended to affect plaintiff

__ Foreseeable risk of harm

__ Degree of certainty that plaintiff suffered injury

__ Nexus between defendant’s conduct and plaintiff’s injury

__ Moral blame

__ Policy of preventing future harm

__ Breach of duty

__ Foreseeable risk

__ Causation

__ Damages

Intrusion into Person’s Seclusion

__ Intentional intrusion into plaintiff’s private life, solitude, or seclusion

__ Offensive Intrusion

__ Causation

__ Damages

False Light

__ Unreasonable publication

__ Placement of plaintiff in false light

__ Offensive publication

__ Causation

__ Damages

Exploitation of Name, Photograph, or Likeness

__ Appropriation of plaintiff’s name or likeness to defendant’s advantage

__ Benefit to defendant

__ Lack of plaintiff’s consent (sometimes irrelevant under statute)

__ Defendant’s knowledge (under statute only)

__ Causation

__ Damages

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

__ Outrageous conduct by defendant

__ Defendant’s intent to cause or reckless disregard of probability of causing emotional distress

__ Causation

__ Severe emotional distress

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

__ Existence of duty owed, based on:

__ Plaintiff as direct victim: Duty assumed by defendant, imposed as matter of law, or arose from relationship

__ Plaintiff as bystander: Plaintiff was closely related to injury victim, was present at time and place of injury, and suffered serious distress

__ Breach of duty

__ Causation

__ Damages

Trade Libel

__ Publication of false statement of fact or opinion

__ Others induced not to deal with plaintiff

__ Defendant’s knowledge or reckless disregard of falsity

__ Causation

__ Pecuniary loss

For defenses, procedural matters, remedies, and practice pointers for each of these torts, turn to CEB’s California Business Litigation, chapter 11.

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