Class 14

Duty: Rescue, Alcohol, and Calamitous Liability

Tort law carves out a variety of exceptions to the idea that everyone has a duty. In this Section, we will consider several of the most prominent. Generally, the common law has not imposed a duty to rescue those in trouble or to warn of coming trouble. Why might this exception have come into being? Does the rule serve primarily to explain who does and does not have an obligation to care for one another? Or does it principally discourage rescue attempts that would only make things worse?

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