TL - Tort Law (Module Overview)

Tort Law 

Introduction

Let’s consider a couple scenarios. First scenario – You’re driving down the road and your tire blows out. The blowout causes you to wreck, causing you serious injury. You don’t understand how that could happen since you were driving very safely, the road was clear, and your tires were brand new. It turns out the tires were faulty which caused the blowout. Second scenario – You are walking through the mall. You step into some water, slip, fall, and break your leg. There was no caution sign to warn you water was on the floor. In both scenarios, you were seriously injured at no fault of your own. What recourse do you have?

These types of situations are why we have tort law. A tort is an action in which one person or entity causes injury, harm, or damage to another person or entity. Tort law is the body of law that governs the rights, obligations, and remedies that are applied through the courts to provide relief for individuals who have suffered injury or harm from the wrongful acts of others. In this module, we will look further into the different types of torts, the elements of a tort, the difference between an intentional and non-intentional tort, the elements of negligence, and strict liability. We will also look at the remedies sought by the injured party.

Take a look at the key terms for this module below: 

1. Tort – wrongdoings that are done by one party against another
2. Negligence – occurs when a party fails to demonstrate the kind of care a reasonable person would take in the same situation, causing injury from the action
3. Assumption of Risk – a defense to negligence actions; applies when plaintiff knew the risk associated with an activity (for example, the chance of being hit by a fly ball in a baseball stadium)
4. Strict Liability – liability without fault; defendant is neither negligent nor guilty of intentional wrongdoing
5. Product Liability – a manufacturer must guarantee that its goods are suitable for their intended use when they are placed on the market for consumption
6. Malpractice – improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity or treatment, especially by a medical practitioner, lawyer, or public official
7. Damages – a monetary award ordered by the court to be paid to an injured party
8. Tortfeasor – the defendant, or negligent party, in a tort case
9. Plaintiff (in a tort case) – the injured party in a tort case
10. Intentional Tort – an act that is intentionally committed against another person with the intent to cause harm
11. Defamation – an abusive attack on a person’s character or to make false claims against someone in order to damage their good name
12. Nuisance – an act that takes from rights to the use and enjoyment of land and property
13. Assault – when one person deliberately leads another person to believe that he or she is about to be harmed
14. Battery – the tort that involves the unlawful, unprivileged touching of another person, even if the physical contact is not harmful
15. False Imprisonment – arresting someone without probable cause
16. Invasion of Privacy – interfering with a person’s right to be left alone
17. Trespass – the wrongful damage to or interference with the property of another

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Intentional Torts
In this lesson, we will define intentional torts and look at examples of intentional torts.

Negligence
What is negligence? What are people liable for that is perhaps unintended? We will take a look at answering these questions and much more in this lesson.

Products/Strict Liability
The products that we sell and offer must function in the way we advertise them, or we may be held liable. We will examine this concept and what that means in this lesson.

Remedies for Tortious Conduct
If the defendant is found liable for tortious conduct, what types of remedies are received by the plaintiff? How are these remedies quantified? We will look at this and more in this lesson.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS