Law Preview - Torts

Formally, torts are civil wrongs other than breaches of contracts for which the remedies are typically, but not always, monetary compensation. When someone commits a "tort," they have violated a non-negotiated, societal rule. Some of the more commonly known torts are civil assault, battery, nuisance law, defamation, and general negligence law.

Torts arise from society's expectation that people, in their actions, will take into account the interests of others and will avoid subjecting them to unreasonable risk. This forces individuals to balance their own interests in acting in ways that impose risk against the interests of others in being free from risk.

Simply put, torts require people to act reasonably -- to impose on others only "reasonable" risks. Torts generally, but not always, require individuals to exercise "ordinary care" in choosing and executing actions. Failure to do so will result in a breach of that individual's duty to another and, when such breach causes harm to another, the victim can pursue a civil action in tort to secure compensation for the loss.