Defining the Types of Personal Injury Torts

Personal Injury Tort

According to the basic principle of the tort law, any person who has either performed a harmful act or failed to exercise an act that leads to the injury of another party should be responsible for the damages he has caused. This would mean that a "tortfeasor" or the party who has committed the tort should compensate his victim's incurred damages

A tort very much differs from a crime. While a tort is considered as a civil wrong done to a person that makes the tortfeasor responsible for suitable legal remedies, a crime is a wrong against the society that can carry a punishment of imprisonment and/or a fine.

Types of Torts

Stated below are the three major types of torts that are deemed by the law to be illegal and carries their corresponding legal remedies and requirements for recovery.

Intentional Tort - this pertains to a wrongful act done deliberately to a person causing him harm or injuries. Examples of these illicit actions are:

Battery


Assault


False imprisonment


Invasion of privacy


Trespassing


Oral or written defamation

In pursuing a personal injury claim based on intentional torts, the plaintiff must first establish the following elements of his case:

The defendant has deliberately exercised an act along with the knowledge that such performance will result to an injury or has consciously failed to perform something to prevent an injury


Such willful act of the defendant is the proximate cause of the harm or the plaintiff's injury


Negligent Tort - this is based on the assumption that a person should always implement proper care and prudence in all his activities. Thus, any of his neglect or inaction that instigates an injury causing-accident may hold him liable for the damages set in.

In pursuing a personal injury claim based on negligent torts, the victims must be able to prove the following:

The "torfeasor" has the responsibility to implement a particular standard of care to protect the plaintiff from possible risks


The defendant has violated such responsibility


His neglect or violation was the cause of the plaintiff's injury


The plaintiff has sustained damages

To add, the victims must also prove that they have done nothing to instigate or worsen his injuries. This is because the law permits a jury to lessen the amount of recoveries that a plaintiff may get if he has contributed in the occurrence of an accident.

Strict Liability Tort - under this theory, the injured victims may demand damages from the defendant regardless of who may be at fault. It is irrelevant then, how careful the defendant has performed his dealings.

Usually, this type of tort may apply in product liability and premise liability cases wherein the manufacturers and owners respectively are presumed to be liable for any harm inflicted on their clients or consumers while utilizing their products or staying on their premises.

Know more about attorney services concerning Personal Injury tort

Rainier used to work in a publishing company as a writer and eventually became an associate editor. He dealt in writing instructional materials for secondary and tertiary students. His passion in writing inspired him to read a lot and subsequently enabled him to gain more knowledge and skills.

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