Types of Torts

The legal field is complex, but the complexities enable the legal system to protect individuals and their rights. Whether you’ve been injured due to medical malpractice, a car accident, or were injured because of someone else’s action, tort law comes into play.

Tort law varies, and understanding them will help you navigate the legal system and seek justice. If you have experienced civil wrong, you need to speak to a tort lawyer.

What is Tort Law?

Tort law is a branch of civil law, and it’s pretty broad. This aspect of civil law deals with all injuries or wrongs that one person causes to another. The primary purpose of tort law is to provide the injured party with compensation to help make healing easier and to prevent the perpetrator from committing future harmful acts.

Intentional Torts

As the name might suggest, intentional torts are actions taken intentionally to harm or injure another person or their personal property.

It is important to know that intentional torts can be considered deliberate, regardless of the level of harm or extent of the injury the defendant intended. For example, it can still be regarded as an intentional act if someone meant to cause significant damage but only inflicted minor damage.

Examples of Intentional Tort

There are a few intentional torts that are commonly seen in civil lawsuits.

Assault and Battery

Even though we commonly mention assault and battery together, they’re two different intentional torts/

Assault is a threat of harm or an attempt to cause harm to another person. If someone is being assaulted, it means the victim has reason to believe that they are in imminent danger of being physically hurt.

An example of assault would be if someone raises their hand to hit someone. Whether the person actually makes offensive contact with you or not, it can be considered assault.

Unlike assault, battery involves physical contact with another person. The contact doesn’t necessarily have to cause injury to be battery, just harmful or offensive. For example, if you’re in an argument with someone and they shove you or grab you, it can be considered battery.

False Imprisonment

It is false imprisonment when someone unlawfully restrains or confines another person without legal authority or the person’s consent. It can be anything from locking someone in a room and not letting them out to preventing someone from leaving a specific area through force or threats. Examples of false imprisonment include:

• A teacher forcing students to stay after class without parental consent or the authority to make them stay.
• An angry romantic partner locking their significant other in a room during an argument to prevent them from walking away.

Trespass to Land

Trespass to land, usually called trespassing, is when someone enters another person’s property without authorization. It includes physically entering the property or sending in an object to enter the property. The trespasser doesn’t have to cause property damage to be considered trespassing. Examples of this tort include:

• Flying a drone over someone’s private property without their consent
• Jumping over someone’s fence into their property

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

Tort law helps hold people accountable for emotional damages, not just physical ones. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is a specific tort that addresses outrageous or extreme conduct causing emotional harm to another person.

What makes an act an emotional distress tort is that the behavior has to be so shocking and without decency that it is considered intolerable in a civilized society. Examples of this could be:

• Prolonged and severe harassment or bullying
• Falsely telling someone that their loved one has been killed or injured

Defamation (Libel and Slander)

Defamation is a tort that can be broken into two categories. Whether it’s libel or slander, a key component of defamation is that it has to be false, communicated, or published by a third party and cause harm to the victim’s reputation.

Written or published false statements are considered libel. This act can be falsely posting accusations about someone on social media or publishing it in a newspaper.

Spoke statements meant to cause harm are considered slander. Examples of this could be spreading rumors verbally or making defamatory comments when speaking in public.

Negligence Torts

Not all torts are intentional. Negligent torts are unintentional acts or omissions that cause harm to others due to a breach of duty of care. Unlike intentional torts, when someone causes harm to another, they don’t mean to, but their negligence leads to the injury.

When proving negligence in negligent torts, you must establish legal liability. To do this, you need to demonstrate these four elements:

• Duty: The defendant had a legal duty to ensure the plaintiff wasn’t harmed.
• Breach: The defendant failed to meet their duty through inaction or action.
• Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty caused the plaintiff’s injury.
• Damages: The plaintiff suffered legitimate harm or loss due to the defendant’s negligent acts.

Examples of Negligence Torts

Negligent torts range from minor issues to more severe incidents. These are some examples of negligent torts.

Car Accidents

The most common type of negligent tort is car accidents. When drivers fail to use caution or care while driving and get into an accident, they can be held liable for any other drivers’ injuries with the help of car accident attorneys. This tort liability means that the driver breached their duty to drive safely. Examples of negligent driving might include:

• Texting while driving
• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and fall accidents are also common in tort cases. These accidents fall under premises liability. A property owner must keep their property safe and warn visitors of any potential hazard or foreseeable risk. Examples of negligence in cases handled by slip and fall injury attorneys are:

• Failing to clean up spills
• Not providing adequate lighting in parking lots or stairwells

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is professional negligence when a healthcare provider doesn’t meet the accepted standard of care within their field, causing harm to their patient. It can be anything from making errors in treatment, medication, aftercare, health management, or diagnosis. Some example cases handled by medical malpractice and negligence lawyers include:

• Surgical errors like operating on the wrong body part or leaving a foreign object inside the patient
• Neglecting to provide necessary follow-up care
• Making medication errors

Product Liability

There are situations where a product is liable for physical harm to someone. Product liability is a type of tort that can be based on negligence when distributors, manufacturers, or sellers don’t exercise reasonable care when distributing, producing, or selling a product. This liability can sometimes be involved in medical malpractice cases, too. Example cases handled by product liability attorneys include:

• Not designing a product properly, leading to safety hazards
• Failing to do product safety testing before launch or releasing a defective product
• Neglecting to add accurate warning labels and instructions to products

Strict Liability Torts

Strict liability torts are unique in tort law. Someone can be found strictly liable regardless of the intent to harm. The main thing to focus on with this type of tort is the inherent danger of the activity or product, not necessarily the defendant’s behavior.

Examples of Strict Liability Torts

Strict liability torts are less common than intentional or negligent torts.

Product Liability (Defective Products)

Product liability cases can be negligent and fall under strict liability. In these personal injury cases, the manufacturers or sellers can be held liable for injuries caused by their defective products, even without proof of negligence.

The idea behind product liability with strict liability torts is that the companies in place to protect users should be held responsible if their products cause harm or injury to their customers. The three main types of product defects are:

• Marketing defects
• Design defects
• Manufacturing defect

A few examples of how defective products can lead to personal injuries include:

• Contaminated food products
• Exploding e-cigarette batteries
• Defective car airbags

Abnormally Dangerous Activities

There are certain activities deemed inherently dangerous. Those who engage in abnormally dangerous activities can be held strictly liable for any harm from participating. Some examples of abnormally dangerous activities are:

• Certain types of construction or excavation work
• Using explosives for mining or demolition
• Storing or transporting hazardous material
• Keeping exotic or wild animals as pets

Within the tort law system, even if the defendant did everything to prevent harm or injury, they can still be held liable for any damages or injuries that result from their activity.

Other Types of Torts

Although intentional, negligence, and strict liability torts are the three most common, there are others.

Nuisance torts are unreasonable interference with another person’s enjoyment of their property. There are private and public nuisance torts.

Private nuisance affects an individual or small group of people. Examples include playing loud music or burning materials that smell bad.

Public nuisance affects a community at large. For example, a factory releasing pollutants in a river or operating an illegal business disrupting the peace.

Intentional interference with contractual relations happens when a third party intentionally causes a breach of contract between two other parties. Proving this tort involves:

• The existence of a valid contract
• The defendant’s knowledge of the contract
• The defendant’s intentional acts to breach
• Actual breach of contract
• Damages from the breach

Fraud and misrepresentation are intentional torts in which someone is deceived to gain an unfair or unlawful advantage. Some elements of fraud or misrepresentation are intent to deceive, a false statement, and damages resulting from the misrepresentation.

Last is an invasion of privacy. Everyone has the right to be left alone. The main types of this tort are:

• Intrusion Upon Seclusion: Invading someone’s private affairs or space.
• Public Disclosure of Private Facts: Revealing private information about someone to the public.
• False Light: Portraying someone misleadingly.
• Appropriation of Name or Likeness: Using someone’s image or name for commercial purposes without their consent.

Most tort cases that end in civil litigation result in courts awarding compensatory damages to successful plaintiffs. These damages cover lost wages, pain and suffering, and medical expenses.

In cases where deterring future misconduct or gross negligence is important, courts may also award punitive damages. For example, a court might impose punitive damages on a manufacturer of a defective product to encourage more careful production in the future.

Secure Expert Legal Representation

You might be entitled to monetary compensation if you or your loved one has been injured due to another’s negligence or intentional misconduct. The Chicago personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers are committed to protecting your rights and handling your personal injury case with the care it deserves.

Call (888) 424-5757 for a free consultation, or fill out our contact form.

All content undergoes thorough legal review by experienced attorneys, including Jonathan Rosenfeld. With 25 years of experience in personal injury law and over 100 years of combined legal expertise within our team, we ensure that every article is legally accurate, compliant, and reflects current legal standards.