Practice Areas
Definition of Torts
A tort is a civil wrong that causes harm or loss to another person, resulting in legal liability.
Torts can be categorized into two main types: negligent torts (based on carelessness) and intentional torts (based on deliberate actions).
Negligent Torts
Negligent torts occur when someone fails to exercise reasonable care, unintentionally causing harm to another person or their property. Key elements typically include duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Intentional Torts
Intentional torts involve deliberate acts that cause harm to another person or their property. The intent doesn’t always mean intent to harm, but rather intent to perform the act that results in harm.
Negligent Torts
Negligent Misrepresentation
Providing false information carelessly, which someone relies on to their detriment (e.g., a real estate agent misstating property details).
Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED)
Causing severe emotional harm through negligent actions (e.g., a bystander witnessing a loved one’s injury due to someone’s negligence).
Premises Liability
Failing to maintain a safe environment, leading to injury (e.g., a store owner not cleaning up a spill that causes a customer to slip).
Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Car Accidents: Injuries caused by negligent drivers (e.g., distracted driving, speeding, or failure to yield).
- Truck Accidents: Collisions due to negligent truck drivers or companies (e.g., fatigued driving or improper maintenance).
- Motorcycle Accidents: Harm from drivers failing to notice or yield to motorcyclists.
- Pedestrian Accidents: Injuries to pedestrians from negligent drivers (e.g., running a crosswalk).
- Bicycle Accidents: Cyclists injured by careless motorists.
Premises Liability
Slip and Fall: Injuries from hazardous conditions on someone’s property (e.g., wet floors, uneven pavement).
Trip and Fall: Falls due to unmarked obstacles or poor maintenance.
Inadequate Security: Harm from crimes enabled by a property owner’s failure to provide reasonable security (e.g., assaults in poorly lit parking lots).
Swimming Pool Accidents: Drownings or injuries from lack of supervision or safety measures.
Dog Bites: Injuries from an owner’s failure to control their pet.
Medical Malpractice (Professional Negligence)
- Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis: Harm from a doctor failing to correctly or timely diagnose a condition.
- Failure to Warn: Harm from inadequate instructions or warnings about risks (e.g., a drug with undisclosed side effects).
Negligent Product Maintenance: Injuries from improperly maintained equipment (e.g., a faulty elevator).
Equipment Malfunctions: Harm from negligently maintained machinery.
Note: Workers’ compensation often applies, but third-party negligence claims (e.g., against equipment manufacturers) may also allow attorney representation.
Intentional Torts
Assault
Intentionally causing someone to fear imminent harmful or offensive contact (e.g., raising a fist to scare someone).
Battery
Intentionally causing harmful or offensive physical contact (e.g., hitting someone).
False Imprisonment
Intentionally confining someone against their will without lawful justification (e.g., locking someone in a room).
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)
Deliberately causing severe emotional distress through outrageous conduct (e.g., extreme harassment).
Trespass to Land
Intentionally entering or interfering with someone else’s property without permission (e.g., walking onto private land).
Trespass to Chattels
Intentionally interfering with someone’s personal property (e.g., damaging someone’s car).
Conversion
Intentionally taking or destroying someone else’s property, depriving them of its use (e.g., stealing and selling someone’s belongings).
Defamation
Intentionally making a false statement that harms someone’s reputation.
Libel (written defamation).
Slander (spoken defamation).
Fraud (Deceit)
Intentionally misrepresenting facts to deceive someone, causing them harm (e.g., lying about a product to trick someone into buying it).
Invasion of Privacy
Intentionally intruding into someone’s private affairs. Examples include:
Public disclosure of private facts.
Intrusion upon seclusion (e.g., spying).
Appropriation of name or likeness (using someone’s image without consent)
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