Ethics and the ProfessionsNotesThis is not a substitute for coming to class Richard Lee
Philosophy 3103Copyright © 2002, Richard Lee Autumn 2003
 

A Duty of Care
(Justice Matthew O. Tobriner)

"[W]when the avoidance of forseeable harm requires a defendant to control the conduct of another person,. or to warn of such conduct, the common law has traditionally imposed liability only if the defendant bears some special relationship to the dangerous person or to the potential victim . . . [T]he relationship between a therapist and his patient satisfies this requirment. . ." (p. 241b)

"[U]nder the common law, as a general rule, one person owned no duty to control the conduct of another . . ." (p.241b)

"[A] duty of car may arise from either `(a) a special relatio . . . between the actor and the third person which imposes a duty upon the actor to controlthe third person's conduct, or (b) a special relation . . . between the actor and the other which gives the other a right of protection.'" (p.241b)

control conduct
/------------> Threat ("third person")
"actor"
("defendant")
\------------> potential victim ("other")
warn


Richard Lee, rlee@comp.uark.edu, last modified: 20 June 2000