What is the Difference Between Negligence and Intentional Torts in a Personal Injury Case?

The difference between negligence and intentional tort is that negligence occurs when a person does not act with sufficient caution to meet the required standard of care, while an intentional tort occurs when a person's wrongful actions are deliberate. This is the main distinction between these two types of torts in civil liability law. Personal Injury Attorney in Okatie SC claims are often based on a negligence lawsuit. Negligence is behavior that does not meet a reasonable standard of care for the safety of those around you. The key difference between an intentional tort lawsuit and a negligence lawsuit is the actor's state of mind.

A negligent person did not intend to cause harm, but they are still held legally responsible because their negligent actions hurt someone. An intentional tort describes a deliberate and conscious act of misconduct, such as an action that breaks the law in Texas. If a defendant is guilty of an intentional tort, it means that they knew about the criminal nature, wrongfulness, or risks associated with an act or omission, but they still went ahead with it. Someone who commits an intentional tort knows that the action is likely to cause injury, but it still breaches the duty of care. An intentional tort may be a premeditated crime, or the idea may occur to the defendant on the spot.

Either way, if the defendant commits a deliberate and wrongful act that injures the victim, they will be held legally responsible for the losses. The defendant is also likely to face criminal charges in Texas for committing a crime against the victim, such as assault, battery, robbery, abuse, or homicide. In general, we all have a legal obligation to exercise the type and level of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in any particular situation, in order to avoid foreseeable harm to others. In the context of a car accident case, all drivers have a legal obligation to act with reasonable care in the operation of their vehicles. This means following traffic laws, driving with extreme caution in bad weather, and keeping your vehicle in good condition. Conduct that is unreasonable or irresponsible under the circumstances constitutes a breach of the legal duty of care mentioned above.

Therefore, following the example of the car accident, a driver who goes through a red light and crashes into another car has not been driving reasonably responsibly and has breached their legal duty of care. As for causality, it is quite clear in most cases; basically, the defendant's conduct must have directly led to the harm suffered by the plaintiff. Intentional torts, as the name suggests, are legal errors that are committed on purpose. Most intentional tort cases arise when the defendant acts with the intention of causing real harm or offence to another person (or at least the threat of harm or crime), rather than causing harm by accident or carelessness. If your injury causes you to wonder “is negligence an intentional tort?” consider the mentality of the responsible party. However, recovering compensation for an intentional tort requires the plaintiff to demonstrate unlawful intent.

Negligence and intentional torts also differ in how defendants have to pay for the harm they cause; instead of spending hours searching for “it's negligence” and intentional tort on the Internet, contact a leading injury law firm in the United States. If a person steals their car, it's not a defense that states that they didn't want them to be left without a car when it was stolen. When you have a civil lawsuit against someone for an intentional act, they may or may not face criminal charges; this process is different from a negligence case, in which they must only pay their share of damages. Whether the defendant in your personal injury case was guilty of an intentional tort or negligence, you have the same right to file a lawsuit against them. The question is whether they intended to carry out the particular action knowing that it was likely to result in harm. With evidence of these four elements - intent, duty of care breach, causation and damages - they will be legally responsible for your injuries and related losses such as medical bills, lost wages and property damage. If you were a victim of someone else's wrongful actions, consult with a legal professional as soon as possible.

In Texas, defendants can be held responsible for both intentional acts of misconduct and for unintentional negligence against plaintiffs. The damages available for intentional torts tend to be broader and more generous than in cases of negligence; this includes emotional distress caused by deliberate behavior. For a negligence lawsuit to be successful, plaintiffs must also show that defendants breached their duty of care. Learn more about how to prove negligence in a personal injury case.