CO Bar key terms

A doctrine allowing a plaintiff to prove breach of duty by showing the defendant violated a statute that was designed to protect against this kind of harm and this class of person, where the plaintiff is within the protected class.

A circumstantial proof device permitting an inference of negligence when the injury-causing instrument was in the defendant's exclusive control and the accident is the kind that does not ordinarily occur without negligence.

The legally recognized obligation to conform to a standard of reasonable conduct for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm; its existence is a question of law for the court.

The requirement that the defendant's breach be a cause in fact of the harm and that the harm fall within the scope of the risks that made the conduct negligent, cutting off liability for highly unusual results.

Liability imposed without proof of fault on commercial sellers of defective products for harm caused by a defect in manufacture, design, or warnings, where the product reached the user without substantial change.

A product defect arising when a foreseeable risk of harm could have been reduced or avoided by a reasonable alternative design, judged under a risk-utility balance in most jurisdictions.

A products liability theory imposing liability when a seller fails to give adequate instructions or warnings about risks of which it knew or should have known, judged by what a reasonable seller would disclose.

An intentional tort requiring an act intended to cause harmful or offensive contact with another person, or apprehension of it, where such contact actually results and is not consented to.

An intentional tort requiring an act intended to place another in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, where the apprehension actually occurs.

An intentional tort consisting of an act intended to confine another within fixed boundaries, where the confinement actually results and the confined person is aware of it or is harmed by it.

A privilege to enter or interfere with another's property to avoid a serious harm to oneself or one's property, which avoids liability for the entry but requires payment for actual damage caused.

An intentional tort committed by physically entering land in the possession of another, causing a thing or third person to enter, or remaining on the land after the possessor's lawful demand to leave.

A privilege permitting reasonable force, short of force likely to cause serious bodily harm or death, to protect possession of land or chattels after a request to desist where feasible.

A manifestation of present contractual intent that creates a power of acceptance in the offeree and is definite enough to allow a court to determine the existence of a breach and an appropriate remedy.

A manifestation of assent to the terms of an offer made in the manner invited or required by the offer, effective on dispatch for the mailbox rule unless the offer provides otherwise.

The common law principle that an acceptance must be absolutely and unequivocally identical to the offer; a purported acceptance adding or changing terms operates as a counteroffer and rejection.

The Uniform Commercial Code provision under which a definite and seasonable expression of acceptance or written confirmation operates as an acceptance even if it states additional or different terms, with those terms handled by default rules.

A doctrine enforcing a promise lacking consideration where the promisor reasonably expected to induce reliance, reliance actually occurred, and injustice can be avoided only by enforcement of the promise.

A writing requirement rendering certain contracts unenforceable unless evidenced by a writing signed by the party to be charged, including land sales, suretyship, marriage promises, and contracts not performable within one year.

A substantive rule barring admission of prior or contemporaneous oral or written statements to contradict or vary a final written agreement, subject to exceptions such as ambiguity, fraud, and consistent additional terms.

The default contract remedy placing the injured party in the position performance would have produced, measured by the value of the promised performance less costs avoided, subject to foreseeability and mitigation limits.

The rule that an injured party may not recover damages for loss that could have been avoided by reasonable effort without undue risk, burden, or humiliation.

Contract damages for losses beyond the direct value of performance that were foreseeable to the breaching party at the time of contracting, such as lost profits from a buyer's resale.

An equitable remedy ordering a party to perform as promised, available only where legal damages are inadequate, typically for unique goods, land, or output and requirements contracts.

A government act terminating or restraining a person's freedom of movement by means of physical force or a show of authority, measured by whether a reasonable person would feel free to leave.

The standard for brief investigative stops, requiring specific and articulable facts, taken with rational inferences, that criminal activity is afoot.

A judicial order authorizing a search or seizure, valid only on probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and describing with particularity the place to be searched and items to be seized.

The rule barring use in the prosecution's case-in-chief of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, subject to exceptions such as good faith and inevitable discovery.

The advisements required before custodial interrogation: the right to remain silent, that statements may be used against the suspect, the right to counsel, and the right to appointed counsel if indigent.

Questioning initiated by law enforcement after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of freedom in a significant way, triggering the requirement of Miranda warnings.

The right of a criminal defendant to the assistance of counsel at all critical stages after the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings, including interrogations deliberately elicited by government agents.

An out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, generally inadmissible unless it falls within an exemption or exception recognized by the evidence rules.

An evidence exception admitting a statement describing or explaining an event or condition made while the declarant was perceiving it or immediately thereafter, without requiring the declarant's unavailability.

An evidence exception admitting a statement relating to a startling event made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement that the event caused, without requiring the declarant's unavailability.

The Sixth Amendment guarantee limiting admission of testimonial hearsay against a criminal defendant unless the declarant is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine.

The doctrine barring relitigation of an issue actually litigated and necessarily determined in a prior action, where the party against whom it is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate.

The doctrine barring a second suit on the same claim by the same parties or their privies after a final judgment on the merits, including claims that could have been raised in the first action.

A federal court's discretionary power to hear state-law claims so related to a claim within its original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy.

A Colorado protection limiting a lender's recovery after a foreclosure sale of residential property to the sale proceeds, barring a separate action against the borrower for the unpaid balance in qualifying circumstances.

Colorado's nonjudicial foreclosure process in which the county public trustee conducts the sale under a deed of trust after notice and cure periods established by statute.

A Colorado statutory lien securing payment for labor, materials, or services improving real property, which must be timely recorded and foreclosed according to statutory deadlines to remain enforceable.

A Colorado development in which owners hold separate interests and share ownership of common elements, governed by the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act and recorded declarations, bylaws, and rules.