Friends and family members often ask "hey, what's tort reform? Following I will attempt to answer this question about a legal topic that is more important to our society than most of us realize.
What Is A Tort?
However, before discussing tort reform I believe it is best to explain what we mean by "tort". Contrary to popular belief, the term tort (as used in the legal World) does not refer to a cake or other form of delicious pastry. It comes from English Common Law and it refers to the breach of a civil duty by an individual (or a corporation) to another person. Such civic duty is different from a contractual or an equitable duty: contractual duties are duties arising from an agreement reached by the parties. Equitable duties are those springing from rights a person may have.
While many wrongful acts amount to both torts and crimes, they are different: a tort is typically dealt with by the victim filing a lawsuit against the wrongdoer, who is known as the tortfeasor. A crime, on the other hand, is dealt with by the state prosecuting the accused. One more important difference: while the remedy for a crime is the sentencing of the accused to death or to a prison term, the remedy for a tortious act is typically money damages.
Finally, torts come from three different kinds of actions:
1. Negligent actions. Most lawsuits are based on negligence:
a. Car, motorcycle and truck accident cases;
b. Slip or trip and fall cases;
c. Medical malpractice cases;
d. Product liability or defective products cases;
e. Pharmacy error cases;
f. Negligent security cases;
g. Amusement park accident cases;
2. Intentional acts:
a. Assault;
b. Battery;
c. False Imprisonment;
d. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress;
e. Fraud.
3. Quasi-torts or liability torts. These can be categorized as statutory violations. Among others they include:
a. Violation of consumer protection laws;
b. Worker's compensation cases;
c. Violations of anti-discrimination laws.
For the purposes of this post, we will only deal with torts caused by negligent acts.
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