A negligence claim requires that the person bringing the claim (the plaintiff) establish four distinct elements: duty of care, breach, causation, and damages.
Four of them are personal: assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. The other three are trespass to chattels, trespass to property, and conversion.
The existence of a legal duty to the plaintiff; The defendant breached that duty; The plaintiff was injured; and, The defendant's breach of duty caused the injury.
The Four Elements of a Tort The accused had a duty, in most personal injury cases, to act in a way that did not cause you to become injured. The accused committed a breach of that duty. An injury occurred to you. The breach of duty was the proximate cause of your injury.
There are also separate areas of tort law including nuisance, defamation, invasion of privacy, and a category of economic torts.
In summary, the essentials of a tort include a wrongful act or omission, causation of legal injury, legal remedy, and unliquidated damages. For an act to be considered a tort, all these elements must be present. Without any of these elements, the tort cannot be established, and no compensation can be granted.
Tort lawsuits are the biggest category of civil litigation and can encompass a wide range of personal injury cases. However, there are 3 main types: intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability.
Under tort law, seven intentional torts exist. Four of them are personal: assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment. The other three are trespass to chattels, trespass to property, and conversion.
This course focuses on personal injury law, as it has developed within the Anglo-American legal tradition. In particular, the concept of negligence and the refinements of negligence law will be extensively considered.