A Tort, is a where one deviates from the standard of care, from societies norms. It is an action that causes harm to a person or property. It is not a crime. Torts are civil actions. There are numerous Torts.
Personal Injury cases derive from the absence of acting reasonably, a failure of care, resulting in harm to a person and/or property, which is called Negligence. Negligence is a subset of a Tort.
The most common examples of Personal Injury cases are slip-and-falls, and car accidents.
In order to prevail in Personal Injury cases one must prove all the elements of Negligence.
Negligence consists of: (1) a Duty; (2) Breach of Duty; (3) Causation; and (4) Damages.
For example, one is out grocery shopping and slips and falls on a spill in the produce aisle. In order to prevail on a theory of Negligence, one must prove: that the store had a duty to clean up the spill; the store breached their duty by not cleaning up the spill; the injuries sustained were proximately caused from slipping on the spill; and there were damages from the slip-and-fall.
There are numerous areas to go into but this is just a brief overview.
With the example above, besides many other factors, landowners liability and ones who are in control of land, buildings, structures, etc., on the land, is determined by ones status. Whether one is an invitee, licensee, or trespasser, would trigger what duty the landowner and/or those in control of the land owe. Landowners, and those in control of the land, have a reasonable time cure defects on the land. Also, there is no duty to warn of open and obvious dangers.
With auto accidents, it usual depends on what type of insurance one has.
Under a limited tort option one can only receive economic losses, wage losses, medical expenses, and cannot seek recovery for pain and suffering, unless one pierces the limited tort threshold, regardless of who is at fault.
Under the full tort option, one can seek recover for everything included under limited tort, which also includes pain and suffering.
The majority of Personal Injury cases settle.
It is always wise to have an advocate on your side, so feel free to stop by our Pottstown Office in Montgomery County.
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