The Artful Jurist

I've just learned about a new blog that deals specifically with the law as it relates to superheroes and supervillains.  That is, it's dedicated to discussing the law as it might relate to superheroes and supervillains if there actually were such super people in the world.  So, if you're desperately curious about what legal issued the courts would be haggling over if Batman sued his drycleaner for shrinking his cape, check it out by clicking the above link.

A recent post dealt with insurance payoffs and nonpayoffs for property damages caused by super characters.  It weaved its way through the insurance company ins and outs.  But it didn't get around to one thing:  Could you sue a superhero for entering and damaging your property while he's doing his super heroics?  I mean, if the insurance company doesn't cover the occasions when superheroes come crashing through your walls -- ("Hey, Superman, I know you were tryin' to fight for truth, justice, and the American way when you knocked down the east wall of my house...but couldn't ya have used the door not five feet away?") -- then could you get your repairs paid for by suing the uninvited superhero who caused the damage?  I mean, Superman's gotta have malpractice insurance, doesn't he?

Well, generally speaking, when someone comes on your property uninvited, that's the legal tort known as "trespass."  If someone interferes with or damages your personal property, that's "trespass to chattel" or "conversion" (in the case of so much damage that the person who caused it has basically deprived you completely of the use of that personal property).  If someone just wanders onto your property and does damage, you can sue that person for the damage he caused you.  However, in cases of necessity, the trespasser could have a total defense.

What's a "necessity" in this case?  Well, if someone caused the damage while acting to protect the public from some great harm, that public necessity would be a defense.  That's why you can't sue the fire department for breaking down your door if it needs to get inside to rescue someone.  So, if Superman needs to break down your wall to rescue people in peril, that public necessity might get him off the hook in terms of having to write you a check to cover your repairs.

The limitation on the public necessity defense is that the person who caused the damage must not have acted unreasonably. ... Which brings us back to that door issue, Superman...