A few thoughts come to mind. 

Some states impose these duties....
1. parties involved in vehicle accidents must stop and render aid to those injured
2. any individual with knowledge of child abuse must report it; may apply to elder abuse as well
3. carriers of communicable diseases have a duty to report to those who may have been exposed
4. mental health professionals may have a duty to report threats to potential victims of their clients

I would review code sections from various states to get a sense for knowledge requirements,

Jana Szostek
Director, Assessment Center
Indiana University Northwest

3400 Broadway
Dunes 1153
Gary, Indiana 46408-1197
Office: (219) 980-6910
Fax: (219) 980-6916
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

Learn more about the IU Northwest Assessment Center at www.iun.edu/~acnw!
________________________________________
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Rick Kunkel [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2011 11:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Knowledge giving rise to Duty

Dear ALSB Friends,

I am working on a paper in which one of the questions presented is whether a
person's knowledge of some harmful, improper or illegal conduct can give
rise to a duty to protect against the illegal conduct, even where no
previous duty existed.

Some examples might be in premises liability cases, where a landowner in
general has no duty to protect against third party criminal acts that occur
on her property.  But after several criminal incidents on the property,  and
knowledge of the acts, courts have held that a duty will arise. (e.g.
customers of banks being robbed at open bank ATMs on premises, assault in
shopping center parking lots).  Maybe another example is the  idea of
attractive nuisance, where a party may in general have no duty to
trespassers, but at some point injury to the trespasser might give rise to
this duty.

If you are aware of other such instances, or can point me to resources that
help to explain the relationship between knowledge and duty, I would
appreciate your insights.  For example, how much knowledge is necessary to
cause duty to arise?  Is knowledge of a possibility of harmful activity?  A
probability?  Foreseeability? Substantial certainty?

Any assistance you can provide will be deeply appreciated.  You can reply
privately to me at [log in to unmask] if you prefer not to reply to the
full listserve.

Thanks

Rick Kunkel