Idaho Bar key terms

A doctrine under which a statute defining a standard of conduct is adopted as the standard of care in a civil case; an unexcused violation establishes breach when the plaintiff is within the class the statute protects.

An inference of breach permitted when the injury-causing instrument was in the defendant's exclusive control and the accident would not ordinarily occur absent negligence, allowing the case to reach the jury without direct proof.

The legally recognized obligation to conform to a standard of reasonable conduct toward foreseeable plaintiffs; absent a duty, no negligence claim exists regardless of how careless the conduct appeared.

The requirement that the defendant's breach be a substantial factor in producing the harm and that the harm fall within the scope of the risks that made the conduct negligent, screening out remote consequences.

A scheme that reduces a plaintiff's recovery in proportion to the plaintiff's own negligence; most jurisdictions bar recovery entirely when the plaintiff's share equals or exceeds the defendant's.

An affirmative defense barring or reducing recovery when the plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily encountered a specific known danger created by the defendant's conduct.

Liability without proof of fault for selling a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user, where the defect existed when it left the seller's control and caused harm.

A product flaw arising from the manufacturer's choice of configuration, tested by whether a reasonable alternative design would have reduced foreseeable risk without excessive cost.

A products claim that adequate instructions or warnings were missing, imposing liability when foreseeable risks of harm could have been reduced by reasonable warnings the seller did not give.

An intentional entry onto land in another's possession without consent or privilege; intent goes to the act of entry, not to knowledge that the land belongs to someone else.

A substantial, unreasonable interference with another's use and enjoyment of land, remedied by damages or injunction rather than by ejectment of the interferer.

A nonpossessory right to use another's land that benefits a particular parcel and passes automatically with transfer of the benefited land, binding successors of the burdened parcel.

An easement acquired by open, notorious, continuous, and adverse use of another's land for the statutory period, without the owner's permission.

Acquisition of title by actual, exclusive, open, notorious, continuous, and hostile possession of another's land for the statutory period, extinguishing the record owner's claim.

A statute determining priority among successive purchasers of the same land; race-notice and notice versions protect a later buyer who takes without notice of a prior unrecorded interest.

A buyer who pays value and takes without actual, inquiry, or record notice of another party's prior interest, thereby prevailing over that unrecorded interest under most recording statutes.

The largest estate in land, potentially infinite in duration, freely alienable and inheritable, with no future interest retained by the grantor.

An estate measured by the life of a named person, entitling the holder to possession and profits but not to commit waste, and ending automatically at that person's death.

A future interest created in a transferee that becomes possessory at the natural expiration of a preceding estate, as when a grant reads 'to A for life, then to B'.

A rule voiding contingent future interests that might vest more than twenty-one years after the death of a life in being at creation, measured for practical certainty of vesting.

The rule that a contract merges into the deed at closing, so the buyer's remedy for defects in title or quality generally rests on the deed's covenants afterward.

An out-of-court statement by a declarant who believed death imminent, offered in a homicide prosecution or civil case, concerning the cause or circumstances of the believed death.

A statement relating to a startling event made while the declarant was under the stress of that event, admissible regardless of whether the declarant is available to testify.

A statement describing or explaining an event made while or immediately after the declarant perceived it, admitted for its truth as a hearsay exception without requiring excitement.

An out-of-court statement consistent with a witness's testimony, admissible to rehabilitate only when offered to rebut a charge of recent fabrication, improper influence, or motive.

An earlier statement contradicting a witness's testimony, usable to impeach; it is substantively admissible only if given under oath at a proceeding or otherwise within a hearsay exception.

The process of attacking a witness's credibility through contradiction, bias, sensory deficiency, character for truthfulness, or prior inconsistent statements, subject to the rules of evidence.

The requirement that the original writing, recording, or photograph be produced to prove its content, unless an exception such as loss or unavailability applies.

The foundational showing that an item is what its proponent claims, typically by witness testimony, distinctive characteristics, or comparison with an authenticated exemplar.

A documented record tracing an item of physical evidence from collection through analysis and trial, used to authenticate it and to rebut claims of tampering or substitution.

A court's power over a particular defendant, satisfied by domicile, consent, waiver, or minimum contacts with the forum such that suit does not offend fair play and substantial justice.

A court's authority to hear the kind of claim presented; it cannot be waived or conferred by the parties and may be raised at any time, including on appeal.

Federal jurisdiction over civil actions between citizens of different states or between a citizen and an alien, where the amount in controversy exceeds the statutory threshold.

The principle that a federal court sitting in diversity applies the substantive law of the forum state, including its common law, while following federal procedural rules.

The bar on relitigating a claim already decided on the merits by a final judgment between the same parties or their privies, including claims that could have been raised.

The bar on relitigating an issue actually litigated and necessarily determined in a prior case, asserted against a party who had a full and fair opportunity to contest it.

The procedural rules permitting or requiring parties and claims to be brought together in one action, promoting efficiency while respecting jurisdiction and fairness constraints.

The questioning of prospective jurors to detect bias, hardship, or other disqualification, followed by challenges for cause and a limited number of peremptory strikes.

A limited strike of a prospective juror without stated cause, barred when exercised to exclude jurors on account of race or sex under equal protection principles.

A judgment entered for one party when, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the opponent, no reasonable jury could return a contrary verdict.

Pretrial disposition granted when the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits show no genuine dispute of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.