Also known as: hazards · hazarded · hazarding · hazarder · hazarders · risk · danger
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A danger or peril, especially a contributing factor to a peril or loss. The concept identifies conditions that create exposure to harm, damage, or financial detriment.
Hazel Hoffman signed a binding contract to buy a warehouse from Harbor Shipping. Two days later a fire destroyed the building. Because the risk of loss attached at contract formation, Hazel must still pay the full purchase price even though the property no longer exists.
Henry Harrison received notice that the state planned to seize his commercial building without any hearing. The Fifth Amendment prevents the government from depriving him of the property when the hazard of erroneous deprivation has not been addressed through required procedures.
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Hope Howard sued a supplier for defective parts but omitted the installer who had separately contracted to maintain the equipment. The court required joinder because proceeding without the installer would expose the supplier to the hazard of double or inconsistent obligations arising from the same facts.
Holly Hayes noticed that her elderly client could no longer manage financial decisions and faced imminent loss of assets. The lawyer consulted adult protective services and petitioned for a conservator to address the hazard of substantial financial harm the client could not avoid alone.
Hassan Hakim and Hyperion Systems contracted for the sale of specialized software both believed would integrate with existing hardware. When they discovered the software was incompatible, the mutual mistake created a material hazard to the agreed exchange and allowed the adversely affected party to avoid the contract.
Hector Hernandez leased a retail space to Haven Medical without disclosing a hidden structural defect in the floor. The defect created an unreasonable risk of physical harm to staff and patients. Haven Medical may recover for injuries sustained after taking possession because the tenant neither knew nor had reason to know of the hazard.
Hazard denotes a concrete danger or peril that can trigger liability or loss allocation, whereas risk refers to the probability of that peril materializing. Primary authorities treat hazard as the condition itself, such as an undisclosed defect or destruction of property before closing.
Supporting sources
Once a binding land-sale contract forms, the risk of loss from destruction or damage shifts to the buyer in most jurisdictions. The buyer therefore bears the hazard even if the property is destroyed before closing and must still pay the full price.
When a lawyer reasonably believes a client with diminished capacity faces substantial physical or financial harm and cannot act in the client's own interest, the lawyer may take protective steps including seeking appointment of a guardian.
A landlord is liable for physical harm caused by a condition involving unreasonable risk of harm if the landlord knows or has reason to know of the condition, the tenant does not, and the landlord fails to disclose it before possession transfers.
…adoption of the "quickening" distinction through received common law and state statutes tacitly recognizes the greater health hazards inherent in late abortion and impliedly repudiates the theory that life begins at conception. It is with these interests, and the weight to be attached to them, that this case is…