People who have watched legal dramas on TV may have heard about tort law but may not be entirely sure what it involves. Tort law covers civil actions that cause harm to someone, and accident injury attorneys practice in the realm of tort law. They make claims for financial compensation for injured clients, typically against an insurance company that covers a vehicle owner or a property owner. If the situation cannot be resolved to the client’s satisfaction, the lawyer files a lawsuit and begins getting ready to proceed to trial. The plaintiff in this type of case is the injured person and the defendant is the entity against which the lawsuit is filed.
In contrast, a criminal case is prosecuted by the government and the person charged with a crime is the defendant. A criminal case can also be a civil case if the injured person or the person’s family files a lawsuit to gain monetary compensation for the harm that was done. This is relatively uncommon because often there is nobody to sue. An individual who commits a crime may have very limited assets, so there is no reasonable financial compensation to be gained.
The origin of the word “tort” is from Latin, as is the case with many legal terms. The Latin word is tortum, with the meanings wrong, harm and injustice. Tort cases usually focus on negligence or carelessness on the part of a person or business that caused harm to someone.
Accident injury attorneys represent clients who have been injured by slipping and falling on a wet restaurant floor, getting hit by a driver speeding through a red light, and many other situations. A firm such as Thomas E. Crenney & Associates, LLC provides free consultations to a person who has been injured and wants to claim financial compensation.
The circumstances of these types of cases indicate that someone disregarded a potential safety risk and in so doing, harmed someone else. For example, a person who gets drunk and drives ignores the reduced driving skill that occurs with intoxication. After causing a collision, this individual will be charged with a criminal act, and the injured person or that person’s family can make a claim or file a lawsuit against the driver’s insurance company.
Join us here!
