What You'll Learn

  • Misfeasance and nonfeasance 2. Exceptions to no duty
  • Rescuers and undertakings 4. Third-party protection
  • Emotional and economic harm

Educational information only; not legal advice. This article is a general study aid and should be checked against current authority and course materials.

1. Recognize the Main Exceptions

Risk creation A person whose prior conduct creates a continuing risk may have a duty to warn, rescue, or minimize the resulting danger, even when the original conduct was not tortious. Special relationship Relationships such as carrier-passenger, innkeeper-guest, employer-employee, parent-child, and landowner-invitee may create protective duties within their scope.

Voluntary undertaking One who takes charge of an imperiled, helpless person must use reasonable care and may not leave the person worse off or block other aid. Contract or statute A lifeguard, jailer, teacher, emergency service, or other actor may owe an affirmative duty because an agreement or statute requires action.

The scope of the relationship matters. A relationship does not create an unlimited duty against every danger; the risk must arise within the reason the law recognizes the relationship.

2. Rescue, Protection, and Reliance

The rescue doctrine protects a rescuer injured while responding to danger created by the defendant. Separately, Good Samaritan statutes may protect voluntary rescuers from ordinary-negligence claims, but the outlines emphasize that these statutes do not themselves create a duty to rescue.

Doctrine Trigger Result

Voluntary undertaking Defendant takes charge or begins rendering aid. Duty to use reasonable care and not worsen the position or prevent other help.

Rescue doctrine Defendant negligently creates imminent peril that invites a reasonable rescue. Rescuer may recover if the original negligence proximately caused the rescue injury.

Special relationship to plaintiff Recognized relationship places the defendant in a protective role. Duty to take reasonable precautions within the relationship's scope.

Special relationship to dangerous person Defendant has a relationship that gives knowledge and ability to control or warn. Possible duty to identifiable or foreseeable third persons.

Good Samaritan protection Actor voluntarily gives emergency aid. Statutory immunity often protects against ordinary negligence, not gross negligence or recklessness.

Key Takeaway

The outlines use the therapist-patient setting to illustrate a duty to take reasonable precautions when a patient threatens an identifiable victim. Similar reasoning may apply to contagious disease, parental control, or employment when the relationship gives the defendant knowledge and a practical ability to reduce the risk.

Negligent emotional harm

The outlines identify physical-impact, zone-of-danger, and bystander approaches. A bystander ordinarily must contemporaneously perceive serious injury to a close family member. Certain special undertakings, such as mishandling a corpse or erroneous death notification, may support liability without ordinary physical danger.

Pure economic loss

Purely financial loss unconnected to personal injury or property damage is generally not recoverable in ordinary negligence, subject to doctrines such as negligent misrepresentation or other recognized exceptions.

3. Analyze Omissions in the Right Order

1 Decide whether the defendant created the risk or merely failed to respond to it. 2 If the claim is nonfeasance, identify a relationship, undertaking, statute, contract, or risk-creation exception. 3 Define the scope of the duty and the class of persons it protects. 4 Ask whether the defendant increased the risk, induced reliance, or prevented other assistance. 5 For rescue injuries, test foreseeable peril and reasonable rescue conduct. 6 For emotional or economic harm, identify the jurisdiction's limiting rule before discussing breach.

Key Takeaway

A store employee sees a customer collapse, calls 911, then moves the customer into a locked room and tells other shoppers that help is already present. Once the store undertakes assistance, it must use reasonable care and may be liable if the conduct delays effective aid or leaves the customer worse off.

Common Mistake

Do not announce a broad moral duty to help. The legal duty must come from risk creation, reliance, undertaking, relationship, contract, or statute.

Primary Authorities

  • • L.S. Ayres & Co. v. Hicks (duty arising from peril and control of the instrumentality).

  • • Farwell v. Keaton (undertaking and special relationship).

  • • Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (duty to protect a threatened third party).

  • • McCoy v. American Suzuki Motor Corp. (rescue doctrine and proximate cause).

  • • Thing v. La Chusa (bystander emotional-distress limits).

Exam-ready conclusion

Nonfeasance is usually nonactionable, but the exceptions are structured and testable. Identify the source and scope of the affirmative duty before analyzing whether the defendant performed it reasonably.