The Three Main Types of Personal Injury Cases

In my last post, you learned what personal injury is. Now, you are ready to learn about the three types of personal injury cases: the negligent tort, the strict liability tort and the intentional tort. More information can be found in the sections below.

1. The Negligent Tort
The negligent tort is one of the most common types of personal injury cases. Basically, it assumes that an individual or an entity must exercise care in their activities, especially in relation to another person’s safety or well-being. When this doesn’t happen, the negligent tort holds them responsible for civil damages.

2. The Intentional Tort
With the intentional tort, the defendant harmed the victim on purpose. Battery, defamation and trespassing are a few examples. With these cases, a personal injury attorney must prove: 1) that the defendant knew that their actions were going to harm the plaintiff and 2) their actions were the primary cause of the injury. Point 2 is especially important, because plaintiffs may get less money if a court finds they contributed to the accident.
That’s right… even with intentional torts, plaintiffs could be held liable. The best example could be seen in a battery situation. Let’s say the defendant stabbed the plaintiff with a knife. As a result, the victim had to stay in the hospital for a few days. If the defendant argued that he was attacked first by the plaintiff, the court could lessen the amount of damages because the plaintiff made the fight more physical. However, since the plaintiff took an even more serious action, he or she would still be held responsible.

3. The Strict Liability Tort
The strict liability tort is very interesting because it holds a defendant liable even if they exercised caution against the injury. Strict liability torts also do not take into account the plaintiff’s responsibility.

Now, on the surface, this seems extremely unfair. However, most strict liability cases are brought against defendants who manufactured defective or inferior products, or situations where plaintiffs got harmed on the defendant’s premises. So, in that way, strict liabilities could serve as a way to protect the public, since businesses would be encouraged to be even more cautious.

If you feel that you have a potential lawsuit contact The Injury Lawyer Group to discuss your case Today!