Law of Torts

Abstract

- Tort law seeks to provide reimbursement to members of society who suffers losses because of the dangerous or unreasonable conduct of others. Torts may be either intentionally, negligently, or in strict liabilty. The word “tort” means “wrong” and originally evolved from the writs of trespass on the case. While each act evolved the actor or tortfeasor , directly causing injury to a victim, one of the many drawbacks to the writ system was it lacked any comprehensive underlying theoretical basis. In the 1800s, as the writ system was replaced by more modern forms of pleading, american law professors and judges began to develop a basic theory for tort law based on fault. In a nutshell, tort law is a method by which an injured person can attempt to shift the cost of harm to another person. Because the plaintiff in tort cases are usually seeking money damages, tort actions that are not settled prior to trial are generally tried to juries. Many courts beleive, in fact the constitutinal right to trial by jury is an inextricable part of tort law and that is inapropriate, if not unconstitutional, to hamstring a jury in its determination of the amount of potential awards for a plaintiff. Thus, Tort Law is the area of law that covers most civil suits. Generally every claim that arises in civil court.