The doctrines that decide cases.
Every claim runs on a legal theory — a chain of elements the two sides fight over. Here they are in plain English: what each requires, when it applies, and how it is proven or broken.
Litigation glossary →Respondeat Superior
The doctrine that holds an employer liable for torts an employee commits within the scope of employment.
TortRes Ipsa Loquitur
An evidentiary rule that lets negligence be inferred from an accident that ordinarily would not happen without negligence.
CorporatePiercing the Corporate Veil
The equitable remedy that lets a court hold shareholders personally liable for a corporation's obligations.
TortProximate Cause
The requirement that a defendant's conduct be a legally close enough cause of the harm to justify liability.
ContractPromissory Estoppel
A doctrine that enforces a promise, even without a bargained-for exchange, when the promisee reasonably relied on it to their detriment.
ContractUnjust Enrichment
An equitable claim requiring a party who has been unfairly benefited at another's expense to make restitution.
TortNegligence Per Se
A doctrine treating violation of a safety statute as itself the breach element of negligence when the plaintiff is in the class the law protects.
TortAssumption of Risk
A defense that bars or reduces recovery when a plaintiff knowingly and voluntarily accepted a known danger.
TortComparative Negligence
A system that reduces a plaintiff's recovery in proportion to the plaintiff's own share of fault for the harm.
ProcedureDoctrine of Laches
An equitable defense barring a claim when a plaintiff's unreasonable delay in suing has prejudiced the defendant.
ContractQuantum Meruit
A claim to recover the reasonable value of services or goods provided when no enforceable contract fixes the price.
TortTortious Interference
A tort claim against a third party who wrongfully disrupts another's contract or prospective business relationship.
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