| Sovereign Immunity and Claims Against the Government |
| Under the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity, the government cannot be sued without its permission. Sovereign immunity protects the federal government, state and local governments, and government agencies from personal injury lawsuits. However, most governments (including the federal government) have passed laws that waive their sovereign immunity under certain circumstances. More... |
| Liability of an Airline Passenger for Providing Medical Assistance to Another Passenger |
| Generally, an airline passenger is not legally liable for the consequences of providing medical assistance to another passenger. The federal Aviation Medical Assistance Act of 1998 provides that a person is not liable for providing or attempting to provide assistance in the case of an in-flight medical emergency, unless the person, while rendering such assistance, is guilty of gross negligence or willful misconduct. More... |
| LIABILITY OF PILOTS |
| In almost every aircraft accident, whether the accident involves a commercial aircraft or a private aircraft, one of the first considerations is whether the pilot's negligence was the cause of the accident. A pilot who is in command of an aircraft is the person who is responsible for the operation of the aircraft while it is in flight. The pilot is also responsible for the safety of the aircraft. More... |
| Contribution and Indemnity |
| When a plaintiff is injured by two or more defendants' tortious acts that join to cause the injury, each defendant is "jointly and severally liable" for that injury. This means that the plaintiff may recover the entire amount of damages from any of the defendants. The defendants, in turn, may seek contribution or indemnity from each other.More... |
| Civil Liability for Suicide |
| Traditionally, courts refused to hold a person or entity liable for a person's suicide. Suicide was considered an illegal, deliberate, and intentional act that broke the chain of causation between any negligent or intentional conduct and the suicide. More... |
