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    Torts Keyed to Prosser

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    Torts Keyed to Duncan

    Kelly v. Gwinnell

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    Facts

    Two of the Defendants were Zak and Gwinell (Defendants). Gwinnell drove Zak to Zak’s home, where Gwinell consumed alcoholic beverages. Zak walked Gwinnell to his car, where he chatted with him and watched him drive off. On his way home, Gwinnell was involved in a head on collision with the Plaintiff, Kelly (Plaintiff), who was seriously injured. Plaintiff sued the Defendants. The trial court granted Zak’s motion for summary judgment, ruling as a matter of law that a host is not liable for the negligence of an adult social guest who has become intoxicated at the guest’s house. The appellate court affirmed.

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    Case Quiz

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    Q.1 - Which of the following best reflects the majority’s implicit repositioning of the duty element in negligence, particularly with regard to private actors, and how it departs from traditional relational duty theory?
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    Correct! The court effectively imposed an affirmative duty on private actors for facilitating risk—despite no special relationship—eroding the historical distinction between nonfeasance (failure to act) and misfeasance (affirmative harmful act).
    Incorrect. B is incorrect because the court preserved duty and proximate cause as analytically distinct.
    Incorrect. C is incorrect because the ruling was forward-looking and not grounded in archaic neighbor-based duties.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect because enterprise liability applies more squarely in commercial/product contexts, not social hospitality.
    Q.2 - From a jurisprudential standpoint, how does the dissent’s reasoning in Kelly reflect a Burkean objection to judicial lawmaking in tort, particularly concerning the role of courts in regulating emerging public harms?
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    Incorrect. A is incorrect because that describes the majority, not the dissent.
    Incorrect. B is incorrect because the dissent did not elevate stare decisis to an absolute but highlighted prudential restraint.
    Correct! Justice Garibaldi’s dissent emphasized institutional limitations, arguing that the judiciary lacks the democratic tools and empirical data to regulate social alcohol use — a classic Burkean concern about courts as improper agents of systemic change.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect because the dissent was grounded in separation of powers, not economic efficiency theory.
    Q.3 - If Kelly v. Gwinnell were extended to impose liability for harms caused by guests after reaching a different location (e.g., continuing to drink at a second venue), which doctrinal principle would most likely serve as the limiting mechanism to avoid indefinite host liability?
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    Incorrect. A is incorrect because abandonment doctrine typically applies in criminal law, not negligence liability.
    Correct! Novus actus interveniens (a new intervening act) is the standard doctrinal limit for tort liability once a new, voluntary act by the guest occurs that severs the causal link from the host’s conduct.
    Incorrect. C is incorrect because loss-of-chance applies in medical malpractice, not social host cases.
    Incorrect. D is incorrect because eggshell plaintiff amplifies damages, not limits liability.

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