What Is a Tort? - CrowdSource Lawyers

Tort is a category of law that allows a plaintiff to sue the defendant for any damages they caused. It covers a whole range of civil lawsuits from car accidents through to breach of contract. If you are ever trying to remember what is tort law and what is not, just look to see if there are damages that the plaintiff can recover compensation for. If there are damages, it is tort law; if there are no damages, it is not tort law.

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What Is the Purpose of Tort Law?

Tort law allows the court to determine who is at fault in the disagreement in question and what damages the at-fault party owes the injured party. In tort law, injury or harm does not necessarily mean a physical injury; it just means that the plaintiff received a loss at the hands of the defendant.

The damages a defendant can claim include things like:

Property damage (repair or replacement)
Medical bills
Lost wages/Lost profit
Loss of opportunity
Intangible damages like pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc.
Financial loss

Personal injury or negligence torts are one of the most common types of tort. Tort law makes up the majority of civil lawsuits.

Types of Torts

Tort law is generally broken down into three categories: negligence torts, intentional torts, and strict liability torts.

Negligence Torts

This type of tort law is an accident that occurred because the defendant did not take reasonable care. The action the defendant took was not intentional but a dangerous mistake. Negligence torts are some of the most common types of lawsuits. Some examples of negligence torts are:

- Medical malpractice
- Slip and fall/ personal injury lawsuits
- Car accidents or pedestrian accidents

Intentional Torts

A negligence tort is something that happens accidentally. An intentional tort is because of the defendant’s intentional wrongdoing. They either did an action knowing it could be harmful or did an action intending to harm someone. Some examples of intentional tort are:

- Fraud
- Assault or battery
- Trespassing

Strict Liability Torts

A strict liability tort focuses on the incident and the harm it caused. There are certain activities (often dangerous ones) that cause an implicit liability. A common example of this is owning an exotic and dangerous animal, like a tiger. This creates an automatic liability for the pet owner. It does not matter if the tiger got out because the fence was damaged in the storm or if the owner let the tiger out while they were drunk; the pet owner is liable for any harm the tiger causes. Some examples of strict liability torts are:

- Owning exotic animals
- Product liability
- Dangerous activities

What Legal Remedies Does Tort Law Provide?

In a tort, the plaintiff can seek compensation, restitution, or equitable remedies.

The plaintiff can seek financial compensation to ensure they are not at a loss for any injuries or costs they may have incurred from the defendant’s actions. This includes things like:

Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Loss of income
Medical bills
Property damage

They can also seek restitution, which returns both the plaintiff and defendant to their position before the incident as best as possible. If the tort law is related to a breach of contract, then the defendant may have to pay for losses to the plaintiff’s reputation and any profit they made too.

Equitable remedies refer to non-financial actions the plaintiff may seek. The most common are restraining orders and injunctions. This prevents the defendant from taking any further action or causing any further harm to the plaintiff.