What Is Tort?
A civil wrong — not a crime — that causes harm to another person and creates legal liability. If you can sue someone for injuring you, the claim is almost certainly based on a tort.
Quick Answer
A civil wrong — not a crime — that causes harm to another person and creates legal liability. If you can sue someone for injuring you, the claim is almost certainly based on a tort.
Full Explanation
A tort is a wrongful act or omission that causes harm to someone and gives the injured person the right to sue for money damages. The word comes from the Latin 'tortus,' meaning twisted or wrong. Torts are distinguished from crimes (wrongs against society, prosecuted by the government) and contracts (duties created by agreement).
There are three main categories of torts. Intentional torts require a deliberate act — examples include battery (intentionally causing harmful contact), assault (causing reasonable apprehension of contact), trespass, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The key is that the defendant meant to do the act, even if they did not mean to cause harm.
Negligence is by far the most common category. It covers unintentional conduct that falls below a reasonable standard of care — car accidents, slip-and-falls, medical malpractice, and product liability all often involve negligence claims.
Strict liability is the third category. Here, a defendant is liable regardless of intent or care — simply engaging in the activity is enough. Strict liability applies to abnormally dangerous activities (like keeping wild animals or using explosives) and to defective products.
The remedy for a tort is typically compensatory damages — money to compensate the plaintiff for their loss. In egregious cases, courts may also award punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter future misconduct.
Real-World Example
A surgeon leaves a sponge inside a patient after surgery. The patient sues. This is a tort — specifically, medical malpractice (a form of negligence). The hospital did not intend to harm the patient, but the conduct fell below the standard of care expected of a reasonable surgeon.
If someone deliberately shoves another person, that is the intentional tort of battery, even if the person is not injured. The act itself — the intentional harmful contact — creates liability.
Why It Matters for Law Students
Torts is a first-year law school course because it governs an enormous swath of everyday life. It covers injuries from accidents, defective products, professional malpractice, and intentional wrongdoing. Understanding the distinction between intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability — and the elements of each — is fundamental to law school and the bar exam.