Personal injury law falls under the heading of tort law. A tort is a civil wrong that serves as the grounds for a lawsuit. In a personal injury case, that civil wrong takes the form of either a physical or a psychological injury to a person. The two most common types of personal injury torts are intentional and negligent. A third type of personal injury tort addresses strict liability, which involves injuries caused by the making and/or selling of defective products.
Intentional torts are the result of a deliberate or intended harmful act by a defendant against a plaintiff, which caused a physical, mental, or emotional injury to the plaintiff. Intentional torts often involve cases of assault and battery, defamation, infliction of emotional distress, trespass, or false imprisonment. It is important to point out though that not every intentional action qualifies as an intentional tort.
Negligent torts arise when a defendant’s actions cause harm or injury to a plaintiff. Unlike intentional torts, the defendant may not have intended to inflict injury, but their actions still resulted in damages to the plaintiff. Familiar examples of negligent lawsuits involve motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall mishaps, accidents while on the job, and medical malpractice.
For a plaintiff to be successful in a tort lawsuit, they need to prove that the defendant had a legal duty to exercise reasonable care, and that the defendant violated that duty. Furthermore, that the violation of duty resulted in injuries to the plaintiff, and that those injuries were a foreseeable result of the defendant’s actions. If successful in proving their case, a plaintiff may be eligible to recover for loss of present and future earning capacity, reasonable medical expenses, pain and suffering, and possibly punitive damages. The amount of any damages awarded may, however, be reduced if it is found that the plaintiff failed to exercise reasonable care in preventing the resulting injuries or was found somehow to have been found at fault.
If you need legal information, it is important to go to a skilled
Denver auto accident and wrongful attorney,
Denver family law and divorce attorney, or
personal injury lawyer serving Denver and Boulder, Colorado to learn more.
