Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers | October 11, 2024 | Personal Injury
A tort is a wrongful act by one party that harms someone else, resulting in legal liability. Legal scholars divide torts into three types based on the intention behind the act–intentional torts, negligent torts, and strict liability torts. The method of proof and the consequences differ among these three types of torts.
The Sandy Springs personal injury lawyers at Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers explain in this blog the differences of each intentional tort, read on to learn more.
What are Intentional Torts?
In an intentional tort, the defendant intended to harm you or intended consequences for which harm was a nearly inevitable consequence. Think of a road rage incident, for example, where the defendant deliberately runs you off the road. Many intentional torts are also crimes.
- Assault: Someone assaults you when they put you in apprehension of immediate physical harm.
- Battery: Someone commits battery against you when they touch you in a harmful or offensive manner. Battery could mean anything from punching you in the face to touching you in an unwarranted way.
- False imprisonment: Locking you in a closet, or even your bedroom, is an example of false imprisonment. False imprisonment occurs when someone intentionally confines another person against their will without legal authority or justification.
- Trespass to land: Entering someone else’s property without their permission or even causing an object (such as a basketball or toxic fumes) to enter it constitutes trespass to land.
- Defamation (libel and slander): Defamation occurs when you make false statements that harm someone’s reputation. Written defamation is known as libel, while spoken defamation is called slander. Truth is an absolute defense against defamation liability, though other defenses may also apply.
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED): Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) occurs when someone intentionally engages in extreme and outrageous conduct that is likely to cause severe emotional distress to another person.
To learn more about intentional torts, contact our personal injury lawyers
What are Negligent Torts?
A negligent tort arises from careless behavior. More specifically, it involves a breach of a duty of care that the defendant owed you. The following are examples of negligence in specific scenarios:
- Medical malpractice: A healthcare professional treats you with substandard care, thereby injuring you.
- Car accidents: A car accident occurs because the defendant ran a red light.
- Slip and fall accidents: You slip and fall when a poorly maintained stairway handrail collapses.
- Motorcycle accidents: A truck causes your motorcycle to crash when it runs you off the road.
- Workplace accidents: You suffer injury from factory machinery that should have been repaired.
- Premises liability: You are struck by an object that fell from a building under construction.
There are many other types of negligent torts. To succeed in a negligence claim, you generally must prove:
- Duty: The defendant owed you a legal duty of care
- Breach: They breached the duty that was owed
- Causation: The breach directly and proximately caused your injury
- Injury: You suffered damages because of the breach of duty
Contact a Georgia attorney to learn more.
What are Strict Liability Torts?
Strict liability refers to tort liability without proof of fault, including:
- Abnormally dangerous activities, such as hazardous waste disposal and construction using explosives.
- Attacks from wild animals.
- Injuries arising from product defects.
The number of strict liability torts is limited because it seldom makes sense to penalize someone without proof of fault.
What are the Different Types of Tort Damages?
Georgia recognizes the following three types of tort damages:
- Economic damages: Anything that is easy to count, such as medical bills, lost earnings, etc.
- Non-economic damages: Intangible damages such as emotional distress or pain and suffering.
- Punitive damages: Extra damages a court occasionally awards to punish the defendant.
You can win economic damages or non-economic damages with any type of tort. You are more likely to win punitive damages if you are the victim of an intentional tort, although you can also win them with a negligence claim.
Do You Need a Sandy Springs Tort Lawyer?
If you have suffered harm that was inflicted on you by someone else, you might have a tort claim. Personal injury claims are all tort claims. If your claim is of substantial value, you will probably need a Sandy Springs lawyer to extract the full value of the tort from the defendant.
Since you might be underestimating the value of your claim, err on the side of caution and seek out a free initial consultation with a tort lawyer at your earliest convenience.
Keep in mind that with most personal injury lawyers, you’ll pay nothing upfront and no attorney’s fees ever unless you win. Contact Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers today to schedule a free consultation.
Contact the Sandy Springs Personal Injury Lawyers Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers Today
For more information, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers to schedule a free initial consultation today, or you can visit our Sandy Springs offices.
We proudly serve Fulton County and Clayton County, GA, and its surrounding areas:
Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers – Sandy Springs
200 Sandy Springs Place NE, Atlanta, GA 30328
(404) 255-9000