I was going to call this the “Friday Fight The Hypo Award” but who has time to award something every week?
So our first official and illustrious “Every Now and Then Award For Fighting the Hypo” goes to, Mommy on the Floor.
She writes:
I was on call for Torts. The professor kept asking if I had a duty of care in certain situations. If I am a homeowner, do I need to try and rescue a trespasser who has fallen in quicksand? What about a bear trap? I wasn’t really sure so I was hemming and hawing. A few weeks ago, he had talked about sea captains and how they have a duty of care to the crew because he is pretty much the only one who can rescue them. Apparently, this is analogous to being a homeowner. He said, you have a duty of care because its like you are a sea captain.
So I am typing along and my friend who sits next to me starts to laugh. She points at my screen. I had written,
“If someone gets caught in a bear trap, you have to help them because you are the sea captain.”
When will this stop being funny? It just made me realize how ridiculous these hypos are. Am I going to be defending sea captains? Are we plagued with bears and everyone is running out and planting traps?
But I promise you, if you fall into quick sand on my property, I will help you. I have too, because I am the sea captain. Aye Matey!
Fight on, Mommy. Fight on!
(H/T to Divine Angst for the heads up on this post; check out the law school roundup that she and Evan Schaeffer put together each week)
No related posts.
Hey, thanks for the award. I love your web site. Mommy on the Floor
Ditto Googie Baba. I’ve enjoyed reading through your blog.
A little late, so no one is likely to see this, but isn’t a homeowner’s duty to trespassers merely to refrain from intentionally harming them, man-made traps being the exception? So no duty for the quicksand, but duty to warn about the bear trap?