Professional Rescuers

A rescuer who comes to the aid of a victim of a peril may be either an amateur or a professional, such as a firefighter or a police officer. With respect to amateur rescuers, the "rescue doctrine" may apply to allow the rescuer to recover against the creator of the victim's peril for injuries that he sustains during the rescue. However, professional rescuers are generally unable to rely on the rescue doctrine to recover for their injuries. Instead, the "fireman's rule" ordinarily prevents professionals from recovering without regard to the negligence of the creator of the peril.

Interference With a Contract

When parties come together to form a contract, a third party may interfere with the performance of that contract or induce one party to breach it. In such a case, the injured party may bring an action against the third party for interfering with his economic relations with the other contracting party or parties.

Torts in Golf

Golfers, spectators, and even third parties may be injured by a golf ball or other object on or off the golf course. The owner of the golf course or the golfer who causes the injury may be held liable in a negligence action to the injured party.

Unusual Defenses to Defamation

Defamation lawsuits are not easy to win because the plaintiff must both prove the difficult elements of his or her case and avoid the many defenses to defamation. This article discusses two unusual "defenses" to defamation, the insubstantial but practical defense of I-dare-you-to-sue, and the real but rare defense of consent.

Federal Laws Regarding Recreational boating accident

Federal law will apply to a recreational boating accident when a lawsuit is brought in a federal district court based upon the federal court's admiralty or diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. A federal court's admiralty jurisdiction exists when the accident occurred on the high seas or on navigable waters. The high seas are waters that are within the jurisdiction of another country. Navigable waters are waters that are used in interstate or foreign commerce. Diversity of citizenship jurisdiction exists when the parties to the lawsuit are from different states.