I am a torts lawyer. What is tort law? Great question. Tort law is a collection of legal principles that define the American legal systems response to injuries one person inflicts on another. Tort law is a part of the civil justice system (noncriminal), and rather than jail time, tort law sometimes requires the injurer to pay money to the victim. It is such injuries that I seek to remedy. My clients often win damages from the injury causing defendant(s), but only if I can prove their case. There are typically two ways that I can prove damages in an injury case. First, and less common, is if I can show that the defendant acted intentionally when she injured my client. The other way, is where I must show that even though the defendant did not act intentionally when he injured my client, that he still owed my client under the law, because he failed to act as carefully as the law requires. This second type of case is commonly referred to as a negligence case. There is one other instance where I represent injured victims and that is in cases that fall under what is known as strict liability law. In those circumstances, a defendant will be liable to my client even if the defendant did not intentionally injure her and even if the defendant acted consistently with the level of care the law requires. In these instances it does not matter what the defendants thinking or lack thereof was – here the defendant is strictly liable to my client under strict liability laws.
