Generally speaking, a “tort” is an injury one person or entity inflicts (accidentally or intentionally) upon another.
When one person commits a tort upon another, the injured person is entitled to remedies under the law. Generally, these remedies can include monetary compensation and restraining orders. The person who brings the lawsuit is called the “plaintiff,” and the person who is sued is called the “defendant.” The area of tort law is often referred to as “personal injury” law (although this is not altogether a completely accurate term). Most torts involve, in some part, the doctrine of “negligence.” The concept of negligence can generally be describes as (i) the failure of one person to act in way we would expect that person to do under the circumstances and (ii) an injury which results from that failure.
TYPES OF TORTS
There are a number of different types of torts. Here is a short list of the most common.
- Automobile Accidents. These types of torts involve all of the personal injuries one can receive in an automobile accident. Generally, one driver causes an accident which injures (or sometimes kills) others (e.g. his passengers, people in another automobile or pedestrians).
- Premises Liability. These types of torts involve injuries one can receive from the condition of a particular parcel of property, mostly due to the failure of the property owner to keep the condition of the property in a safe condition. Two common examples of these types of torts include (i) a “slip and fall” accident and (ii) an injury one receives from a crime committed on another’s property (e.g. being mugged or assaulted in a private parking garage where the owner of the garage knew that people were getting mugged all the time – and did nothing to prevent further muggings).
- Malpractice. These types of torts involve injuries one can receive due to the mistake of a licensed professional (i.e. a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist or a CPA). Generally, these types of torts require the “expert” testimony of a professional (e.g. another doctor in a medical malpractice case).
- Products Liability. These types of torts involve injuries one can receive from a “product” such as a machine, medical device or a prescription drug. The injured person must prove that the product in question was improperly designed, constructed or packaged (without the proper warnings or instructions) – without the proper regard for the damage it could cause to a human being.
- Defamation/Invasion of Privacy. These types of torts involve injuries one can receive from something another says or writes which is untrue, malicious and/or private. These defamation torts include (i) slander (spoken word), (ii) libel (written word) and (iii) invasion of privacy (making something public which was and should have remained very private).
- Assault and Battery. These types of torts generally involve one person physically attacking another person. These are also sometimes called “intentional torts” to distinguish them from most other torts (which usually involve an accident resulting from another’s mistake or lack of care).
- Fraud. This is also another type of intentional tort. This involves one person lying, misrepresenting or concealing an important piece of information from another person in order to get that other person to do or refrain from doing something. In short, a plaintiff is tricked by the fraudulent act of the defendant.
TYPES OF DAMAGES
In most tort cases, the plaintiff is seeking damages (i.e. money). Generally speaking, there are two major categories of damages a plaintiff can recover in a personal injury case: (i) compensatory damages and (ii) punitive damages.
- “Compensatory damages” are designed to “compensate” the plaintiff for what the plaintiff has lost or endured (e.g. medical bills, lost wages, lost income, physical pain and suffering and mental/emotional pain and suffering) as the result of the defendant’s actions.
- “Punitive damages” are designed to punish the defendant for his actions. However, punitive damages are only awarded in extraordinary situations where the plaintiff proved that the defendant acted with malice or intent – negligence is not enough. The law permits punitive damages in order to discourage similar acts in the future by the same defendant or other persons. Punitive damages are usually awarded in cases involving fraud, bad faith or intentional acts.
Some tort cases also seek what the law calls “injunctive relief.” Injunctive relief involves a court order requiring or preventing the defendant from doing or continuing to do a certain act. This type of relief includes such things as temporary restraining orders and permanent injunctions. A plaintiff can request both injunctive relief as well as monetary damages in the same lawsuit.
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