Civil Law Fundamentals: Negligence, Torts, and Civil Procedure
Negligence and torts
The civil exam tests the elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. New York applies comparative fault under CPLR 1411, and assumption of risk can bar or reduce recovery. Investigators face intentional torts too: assault, battery, false imprisonment, trespass, conversion, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. False imprisonment requires confinement without consent or legal authority; a polite interview can become a detention if a reasonable person would not feel free to leave.
Privacy in New York
New York does not provide a broad common-law invasion-of-privacy claim. Commercial use of a person's name, portrait, or picture is governed by Civil Rights Law sections 50 and 51. Other privacy-like claims often proceed as trespass, intrusion, or statutory violations. Do not promise a client a privacy claim without legal review.
Procedure and limitations
Civil practice is governed by the CPLR. Key periods: negligence three years (CPLR 214), defamation one year (CPLR 215), contract six years (CPLR 213). Service of process must follow CPLR 308; substituted service under 308(2) requires delivery to a suitable person at the proper place and mailing. Subpoenas are governed by CPLR 2301 et seq.; discovery by Article 31. Preserve evidence once litigation is reasonably anticipated.
Worked example
A process server leaves a summons with a building doorman but does not mail a copy. Substituted service is likely defective because CPLR 308(2) requires both delivery and mailing. The fix is not to backdate an affidavit; it is to serve again properly and document it.
Traps
Treating civil work as free of constitutional limits; promising no subpoena; and destroying notes after a preservation letter.