tort

tort,

in law, the violation of some duty clearly set by law, not by a specific agreement between two parties, as in breach of contractcontract,
in law, a promise, enforceable by law, to perform or to refrain from performing some specified act. In a general sense, all civil obligations fall under tort or contract law.
..... Click the link for more information. . When such a duty is breached, the injured party has the right to institute suit for compensatory damagesdamages,
money award that the judgment of a court requires the defendant in a suit to pay to the plaintiff as compensation for the loss or injury inflicted. Damages are the form of legal redress most commonly sought.
..... Click the link for more information. . Certain torts, such as nuisancenuisance,
in law, an act that, without legal justification, interferes with safety, comfort, or the use of property. A private nuisance (e.g., erecting a wall that shuts off a neighbor's light) is one that affects one or a few persons, while a public nuisance (e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. , may be suppressed by injunctioninjunction,
in law, order of a court directing a party to perform a certain act or to refrain from an act or acts. The injunction, which developed as the main remedy in equity, is used especially where money damages would not satisfy a plaintiff's claim, or to protect personal
..... Click the link for more information. . Many crimes are also torts; burglary, for instance, often constitutes trespasstrespass,
in law, any physical injury to the person or to property. In English common law the action of trespass first developed (13th cent.) to afford a remedy for injuries to property.
..... Click the link for more information. .

The history of Anglo-American tort law can be traced back to the action for trespass to property or to the person. Not until the late 18th cent. was the currently observed distinction made between injury willfully inflicted and that which is unintentional. In the early 19th cent., negligencenegligence,
in law, especially tort law, the breach of an obligation (duty) to act with care, or the failure to act as a reasonable and prudent person would under similar circumstances.
..... Click the link for more information. was distinguished as a separate tort, and it has come to supply a large portion of tortious litigation.

The general tendency today is to rule that the breach of any duty constitutes a tort, rather than to rule that an alleged tort must fit into some previously recognized variety, such as assault, false imprisonment, or libel. Some courts treat any willful unjustified injury as tortious, while others hold that the act must be defined as tortious by law, regardless of the perpetrator's motive. Torts that injure reputation or feelings are personal torts; those violating statutory rights are constitutional torts; those involving real or personal property are property torts. Property torts include several classes of torts, such as automobile accidents, negligence, product liability, and medical malpracticemalpractice,
failure to provide professional services with the skill usually exhibited by responsible and careful members of the profession, resulting in injury, loss, or damage to the party contracting those services.
..... Click the link for more information. .

In some areas, tort liabilityliability,
in law, an obligation of one party to another, usually to compensate financially. It is a fundamental aspect of tort law, although liability may also arise from duties entered into by special agreement, as in a contract or in the carrying out of a fiduciary duty.
..... Click the link for more information. can be assigned without a finding of fault, as in no-fault automobile insurance. In areas where the finding of fault remains crucial, and the awards of compensatory or punitive damages can be substantial, tort litigation can be time-consuming and costly. Its defenders claim tort litigation promotes safety and economic efficiency, while critics argue the process does little but raise insurance premiums while providing windfalls to a handful of lawyers. Efforts to reform tort law hope to set limits to damage settlements and to broaden no-fault statutes for use in alternative forms of litigation. In the 1990s many U.S. states, pressed chiefly by conservatives and business interests, passed laws limiting damages, but state courts have repeatedly voided these limits as violations of "open courts" guarantees in state constitutions.

tort

Law a civil wrong arising from an act or failure to act, independently of any contract, for which an action for personal injury or property damages may be brought

tort

a civil wrong. The laws of tort are general laws which protect the personal rights of an individual to non-violation of his or her property, reputation and person:

offences against property rights include trespass; negligence (where there is a breach of a legal duty to take care which results in unintended damage to the plaintiff); and nuisance (where there is an unlawful and unreasonable interference with a person's use or enjoyment of his or her property);
offences against reputation include libel, and slander (making a false and malicious statement which damages another person's reputation);
offences against one's person include assault, battery; negligence; and intimidation (a threat to perform an unlawful act interfering with the victim's freedom of action).

It may be noted in this context that an employer may be made liable for the torts of his employees which are committed during the course of their employment, having vicarious liability for their actions. In a tort action the plaintiff will usually be seeking either financial compensation (damages) for harm done to him or her by the defendant, or an injunction from the court ordering the defendant to discontinue harming the plaintiff.

tort

A legally recognized wrong for which the law provides a remedy.The wrong may be negligent;it might be one of the intentional torts such as defamation, assault, battery, trespass, conversion (broadly, acts that amount to theft), or false imprisonment (preventing someone from leaving a place);or it might be something that can combine elements of negligence,recklessness,or intentional conduct,such as fraud or nuisance.The modern trend of legal theory is to expand concepts of tort liability. As a result, older decisions that find in favor of a property owner, for example, and against someone injured on the property may no longer be reliable when you are trying to determine rules of conduct and the limits of responsibilities.The better practice is to do all things reasonable and fair under the circumstances,regularly consult with insurance advisors regarding risk management practices, keep informed regarding litigation trends in your industry, and always maintain adequate insurance coverage.

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Synonyms for tort

noun (law) any wrongdoing for which an action for damages may be brought

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