Special Duty Rules
Special Duty Rules
Land possessors, affirmative duties, rescue, and emotional-harm limits.
Structured Visual
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Scope and honesty note
Jurisdiction: United States common-law overview with selected Texas statutory applications; as of 2026-08-28; jurisdictions and causes of action vary; not legal advice. Synthetic facts are classroom inputs, not findings. This lesson renders structure, refuses unsupported interpretation, cites, abstains, and hands off.
See the essential structure first
Start with this deliberately incomplete structure, then use the pinned authorities, worked application, exceptions, and handoff below. This deliberately incomplete preview has 5 nodes; exceptions and legal consequences remain in the sourced prose below.
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Begin with the governing doctrine
Special-duty rules refine the ordinary-care inquiry. Land-possessor duties vary by jurisdiction, entrant status, activities, conditions, notice, control, and statutes. There is ordinarily no general affirmative duty to rescue, but duties can arise from special relationships, creation of risk, voluntary undertakings, contracts, custody, or legislation. The rescue doctrine can bring rescuers within foreseeable risk. Negligent infliction of emotional distress is not one uniform tort; direct-victim and bystander paths use jurisdiction-specific limits.
Pin a multi-factor duty analysis
The bounded passage lists foreseeability, certainty, connection, blame, prevention policy, burden, community consequences, and insurance as considerations for departing from ordinary care. Caption: Rowland v. Christian; court: Supreme Court of California; decision date: 1968-08-08. Verbatim opinion excerpt: “A departure from this fundamental principle involves the balancing of a number of considerations; the major ones are the foreseeability of harm to the plaintiff, the degree of certainty that the plaintiff suffered injury, the closeness of the connection between the defendant’s conduct and the injury suffered, the moral blame attached to the defendant’s conduct, the policy of preventing future harm, the extent of the burden to the defendant and consequences to the community of imposing a duty to exercise care with resulting liability for breach, and the availability, cost, and prevalence of insurance for the risk involved. (Cf. Schwartz v. Helms Bakery Ltd., 67 Cal.2d 232, 237, fn. 3 [60 Cal.Rptr. 510, 430 P.2d 68]; Hergenrether v. East, 61 Cal.2d 440, 443-445 [39 Cal.Rptr. 4, 393 P.2d 164]; Merrill v. Buck, 58 Cal.2d 552, 561-562 [25 Cal.Rptr. 456, 375 P.2d 304]; Chance v. Lawry’s, Inc., 58 Cal.2d 368, 377 [24 Cal.Rptr. 209, 374 P.2d 185]; Lipman v. Brisbane Elementary School Dist., supra, 55 Cal.2d 224, 229-230; Stewart v. Cox, 55 Cal.2d 857, 863 [13 Cal.Rptr. 521, 362 P.2d 345]; Biakanja v. Irving, 49 Cal.2d 647, 650 [320 P.2d 16, 65 A.L.R.2d 1358]; Wright v. Arcade School Dist., 230 Cal.App.2d 272, 278 [40 Cal.Rptr. 812]; Raymond v. Paradise Unified School Dist., 218 Cal.App.2d 1, 8 [31 Cal.Rptr. 847]; Prosser on Torts (3d ed. 1964) pp. 148-151; 2 Harper and James, The Law of Torts (1956) pp. 1052, 1435 et seq.)” Source: 69 Cal. 2d 108; https://www.neochart.com/catalog/cases/cal-2d/volume_69/0108_01/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Pin recreational-use liability limits
This statute supplies a concrete land-use limitation whose applicability depends on purpose, premises, payment, conduct, and exceptions. Verbatim statutory text: “LIABILITY LIMITED. (a) An owner, lessee, or occupant of agricultural land: (1) does not owe a duty of care to a trespasser on the land; and (2) is not liable for any injury to a trespasser on the land, except for wilful or wanton acts or gross negligence by the owner, lessee, or other occupant of agricultural land. (b) If an owner, lessee, or occupant of agricultural land gives permission to another or invites another to enter the premises for recreation, the owner, lessee, or occupant, by giving the permission, does not: (1) assure that the premises are safe for that purpose; (2) owe to the person to whom permission is granted or to whom the invitation is extended a greater degree of care than is owed to a trespasser on the premises; or (3) assume responsibility or incur liability for any injury to any individual or property caused by any act of the person to whom permission is granted or to whom the invitation is extended. (c) If an owner, lessee, or occupant of real property other than agricultural land gives permission to another to enter the premises for recreation, the owner, lessee, or occupant, by giving the permission, does not: (1) assure that the premises are safe for that purpose; (2) owe to the person to whom permission is granted a greater degree of care than is owed to a trespasser on the premises; or (3) assume responsibility or incur liability for any injury to any individual or property caused by any act of the person to whom permission is granted. (d) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall not limit the liability of an owner, lessee, or occupant of real property who has been grossly negligent or has acted with malicious intent or in bad faith. (e) In this section, "recreation" means, in addition to its meaning under Section 75.001, the following activities only if the activities take place on premises owned, operated, or maintained by a governmental unit for the purposes of those activities: (1) hockey and in-line hockey; (2) skating, in-line skating, roller-skating, skateboarding, and roller-blading; (3) soap box derby use; and (4) paintball use. (f) Notwithstanding Subsections (b) and (c), if a person enters premises owned, operated, or maintained by a governmental unit and engages in recreation on those premises, the governmental unit does not owe to the person a greater degree of care than is owed to a trespasser on the premises. (g) Any premises a governmental unit owns, operates, or maintains and on which the recreational activities described in Subsections (e)(1)-(4) are conducted shall post and maintain a clearly readable sign in a clearly visible location on or near the premises. The sign shall contain the following warning language: WARNING TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 75, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE) LIMITS THE LIABILITY OF A GOVERNMENTAL UNIT FOR DAMAGES ARISING DIRECTLY FROM HOCKEY, IN-LINE HOCKEY, SKATING, IN-LINE SKATING, ROLLER-SKATING, SKATEBOARDING, ROLLER-BLADING, PAINTBALL USE, OR SOAP BOX DERBY USE ON PREMISES THAT THE GOVERNMENTAL UNIT OWNS, OPERATES, OR MAINTAINS FOR THAT PURPOSE. (h) An owner, lessee, or occupant of real property in this state is liable for trespass as a result of migration or transport of any air contaminant, as defined in Section 382.003(2), Health and Safety Code, other than odor, only upon a showing of actual and substantial damages by a plaintiff in a civil action. (i) Subsections (b) and (c) do not affect any liability of an owner, lessee, or occupant of real property for an injury occurring outside the boundaries of the real property caused by an activity described by Section 75.001(3)(P) that originates within the boundaries of the real property.” Source: Tex. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 75.002; https://www.neochart.com/catalog/texas/civil_practice/chapter_75/section_75_002/tex_cp_75_002_0e383236383e/tex_civil_practice_remedies_code_sec_75_002_liability_limite_0001/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Pin property-owner duties to contractors
This provision states conditions for property-owner liability involving contractors and real-property improvements. Verbatim statutory text: “LIABILITY FOR ACTS OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. A property owner is not liable for personal injury, death, or property damage to a contractor, subcontractor, or an employee of a contractor or subcontractor who constructs, repairs, renovates, or modifies an improvement to real property, including personal injury, death, or property damage arising from the failure to provide a safe workplace unless: (1) the property owner exercises or retains some control over the manner in which the work is performed, other than the right to order the work to start or stop or to inspect progress or receive reports; and (2) the property owner had actual knowledge of the danger or condition resulting in the personal injury, death, or property damage and failed to adequately warn.” Source: Tex. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 95.003; https://www.neochart.com/catalog/texas/civil_practice/chapter_95/section_95_003/tex_cp_95_003_4c9fc0dfa082/tex_civil_practice_remedies_code_sec_95_003_liability_for_ac_0001/index.html; data via neochart.com, snapshot 2026-08.
Pin the synthetic fact pattern
A synthetic packet separately records a concealed stair defect, a contractor injury during repair work, a bystander rescue, and a nearby witness's emotional harm after serious injury to a close relative.
Work the application
Each scenario receives its own duty source. The visitor trace compares entrant and activity facts with governing land rules. The contractor trace tests the exact statutory predicates rather than assuming ordinary premises liability. The rescue trace starts with created risk or another duty source. The emotional-harm trace selects direct-victim or bystander doctrine and preserves proximity, relationship, sensory perception, and severity facts.
Read the populated authority-and-fact record
The rows populate status, condition, knowledge, control, relationship, undertaking, created risk, rescue, proximity, emotional-harm, statutory-limit, and exception fields. The rendered record contains 15 populated rows.
Jurisdiction: US; as of 2026-08-28; not legal advice; Render structure, refuse interpretation, cite, abstain, and hand off.
RENDER STRUCTURE · REFUSE INTERPRETATION · CITE · ABSTAIN · HAND-OFF: render structure, refuse interpretation, cite provenance, abstain when unsupported, and hand off to human review.
Read the complete record
The complete record keeps sources, stated facts, and questions for review separate. Authority records: Verbatim snapshot sources. 69 Cal. 2d 108: Rowland v. Christian. Tex. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 75.002: 75.002. LIABILITY LIMITED. Tex. Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 95.003: 95.003. LIABILITY FOR ACTS OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. A property owner is not liable for personal injury, death, or property damage to a contractor, subcontractor, or an employee of a contractor or subcontractor who constructs, repairs, renovates, or modifies an improvement to real property, including personal injury, death, or property damage arising from the failure to provide a safe workplace unless:. Synthetic facts: Classroom facts only. Land entrant: Visitor encounters a concealed stair defect known to the occupier. Contractor: Worker is injured by a property condition while repairing an improvement. Rescue: Bystander enters a hazard created by another to aid a person in danger. Emotional harm: Witness observes serious injury to a close relative from nearby. Application trace: Elements, limits, and unresolved questions. Land: Status, activity, condition, knowledge, control, warning, and statutes affect duty. No-duty baseline: Failure to rescue ordinarily needs a relationship, undertaking, creation of risk, or statute. Rescue doctrine: Foreseeable rescuers, causation, scope, and comparative responsibility remain separate. Emotional distress: Direct-victim and bystander rules vary and require bounded facts.
Narrow summary
Special-duty questions are source and relationship problems; identify the duty path before evaluating breach, causation, defenses, or damages.