The Concept of Tort Law Essay

Tort is considered to be a civil harm to a person or damage to the property which constitutes the breach of duty. Its litigation starts when the plaintiff is willing to get a compensation from the defendant by filing a suit. Apart from personal injury and physical harm, tort law is also applicable in the medical misinterpretation, product malfunctioning, negligent misrepresentation, violation of intellectual property, defamation, or trespassing. The severity of punishment depends on the specific circumstances in which judges can bring their subjective interpretation of the case. All in all, the tort can be intentional or negligent including the causation of events and injury to the victim.
The evolution of torts is identified by common law in which legal procedures and rules are invented by judges during the process of resolving cases. The origin of U.S. tort law has developed from the principles of the British common law system, which was later elaborated by the American judges. Common law in U.S (R. McCurdy and Robinson). The body and concept of tort law are constantly developing so the judges often make amendments based on the specific cases to find a right decision. This constitutes a problem in providing a right definition of what is a tort law as it develops in ad hoc fashion based on specific circumstances. In contrast to tort law, criminal law is strictly regulated according to the judicial system in the necessity to track violations of laws and punish the criminals.


A “tort” is considered to be a civil injury that encompasses the bad action or breach of the agreement for which the court should compensate a remedy. The process consists of the interaction between the plaintiff who is filing the suit against the defendant for a personal injury or receiving a physical damage to one's property. The other cases of tort litigation include medical malpractice, liability based on the product malfunctioning, wrongdoings against real property, wrongful death, or negligence. Tort law is also applicable in case of wrongdoings connected to the trespass, defamation, violation of intellectual property including trademark, patent, or copyright, or wrongs against business (R. McCurdy and Robinson).

Tort litigation can arise from both intentional and unreasonable conduct, which depends on the desire or negligence to do any harm to the person or property. Considering tort application, the intent with which one brings harm is not obligatory hostile or even it does not always involve a desire to bring negative outcomes. To prove tort liability, the judge should consider whether the defendant intended the conduct. For instance, one of the most common intentional torts is a trespass, which happens when one enters or makes someone invade the land of another. In contrast to this type of torts, negligence is a failure to act reasonably which brings the injury to an individual or his/her property. For instance, it can be applied when the specific harm was brought to a person in the case of excessive speed.

To conclude, tort law is a broad category in the American law system that includes such necessary attributes as a duty, its violation, causation, and damage. The application of tort law varies depending on the state and the degree of wrongdoings by the criminal. Torts litigation is the complex process which falls into broad areas where the presence of harm and its severity is regulated by jurisdiction.