Workplace violence generates two kinds of torts; courts are recognizing negligent hiring as a separate cause of action from negligent retention

Article Abstract:

Courts have increasingly begun to recognize distinctions between the torts of negligent hiring and negligent retention, both of which hold an employer liable for the foreseeable actions of a dangerous employee. Employers were previously vulnerable chiefly under the doctrines of respondeat superior and negligent entrustment. The two torts developed from the common law, and particularly from the fellow servant rule. Roughly 28 states and the District of Columbia appear to recognize the doctrine of negligent hiring.

United States, Laws, regulations and rules, Employer liability, Workplace violence, Employee selection, Employee retention

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'Wrongful adoption' gains acceptance

Article Abstract:

A new tort, that of wrongful adoption, has achieved recognition in the courts. This tort came about as more adoptive parents recognized that their queries about a child's health had not been answered completely and truthfully by adoption agencies. Wrongful adoptions are brought as common-law fraud or negligence cases. Adoption agencies fear that these suits will force them to guarantee a child's future health, but courts have held that agencies cannot misrepresent known facts about a child's health.

Adoption, Torts

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Mock trials offer virtual reality: simulated juries can be used most effectively early in the litigation process to develop the theory of the case

Article Abstract:

Mock trials are the most useful early in a case. They can help a lawyer pinpoint the main issue of a case and assemble pertinent evidence around it, also showing jurors' probable reactions to arguments which might contradict their basic beliefs. Most mock trials are conducted by jury consulting or market research firms and contain abbreviated versions of all parts of a regular trial.

Research, Methods, Usage, Trial practice, Jury, Juries, Mock trials

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