In law, tort is a term that describes any situation where one party wrongfully causes losses or damages to another party. The law allows for the injured party to recover money from the person who caused the tort. In fact, “tort law” and “personal injury law” are often used interchangeably.
Tort law is a form of civil law, the type of law that deals with disputes rather than criminal acts. Family law, such as divorce cases and contract law, are also branches of civil law. In civil lawsuits, normally, no one goes to jail or gets fined by the government. Instead, the goal is to reach a satisfactory conclusion that sets things right between the parties.
How Can I File a Claim for a Tort?
Georgia’s tort laws allow you to file a claim within two years of the date of your accident. From there, you need to prove that you were less than 50% responsible for your accident. After receiving medical treatment and calculating your damages, you can file a claim against the at-fault party responsible to seek financial compensation.
How Does Tort Law Make Things Right?
In tort law, the party who caused the damage or injury usually has to pay money to the victim. In some cases, this money can fix the harm done, for example, paying to repaint a fence after backing into it with a car. Torts usually come in the form of either economic or non-economic damages.
Economic damages have a fixed value and rarely ever fluctuate. This makes it easier for you and your lawyer to evaluate how much your loss is worth and factor it into your settlement. The opposite is true for non-economic damages.
Non-economic damages have no fixed value, and their value relies significantly on the context of your accident and how severely your damages impacted your life. These get factored into your settlement through various formulas and other holistic approaches.
Get Justice for Your Tort Case
In most tort cases, however, money cannot truly replace what was lost. For example:
- The victim of a home break-in sues the thief who committed the crime. Among the things stolen was an heirloom engagement ring. The ring has already been hocked and cannot get recovered. The thief gets ordered to pay the victim money to replace the ring. The financial cost has gotten recovered, but the emotional loss can never be fixed.
- A drunk driver strikes a child who was lawfully crossing the street. The child lives, but their leg gets shattered. Even after surgery, they will walk with a limp for the rest of their life. The drunk driver pays the hospital costs as well as additional money to compensate for the severe injury. The child’s family has more than recovered their financial losses, but their lives will be forever changed.
Even though money cannot undo the injury or tort in most cases, the money is considered very important by both the victims and the legal system. This money helps give the victim of a tort a chance to move on despite the loss they’ve suffered. It may help them make something good out of a tragic circumstance. Or, it may simply help them stay afloat financially after the tort leaves them unable to work or with a permanent change in their life.
On another level, the money also helps send a message that people cannot be reckless with others’ lives and deters people from acting negligently.
What Are Examples of Common Torts?
There are hundreds of types of torts that can come to the courts, but some of the most common include:
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Nursing home abuse
- Construction accidents
- Dangerous drugs
- Defective medical devices
If you retain an experienced lawyer, they should be able to help you with all types of torts.
Have you been injured? John Foy & Associates offers a free consultation with some of the most experienced and respected personal injury lawyers in Georgia. Fill out the form to your right or call us at 404-400-4000 today.