A Brief Explanation of Legal Torts

A graduate of South Texas College of Law in Houston, Anastacio “Trae” Mindiola has worked as an attorney for more than a decade, managing his own Houston law firm since 2011. Over the course of his career, Anastacio Mindiola has gained experience in a variety of legal matters, including torts.

A component of United States civil law, a tort can be simply defined as a harmful and/or irresponsible act that leads to personal injury or property damage. Tort law throughout the country is based on three specific types of torts: intentional, negligent, and strict liability. Intentional torts include purposefully harmful acts such as assault, and negligent torts occur when a person’s careless behavior causes injury or loss.

Unlike cases involving negligence, tort cases based on strict liability impose liability on a defendant regardless of whether he or she was at fault. The court’s main focus in a strict liability case is determining if harm occurred. Defective consumer products are often at the center of strict liability suits.

Regardless of the type, all torts are recognized as civil wrongs, so punishment does not include incarceration. Rather, a court typically will order a defendant found guilty of a tortious act to restore the plaintiff’s damage or loss monetarily. In addition to compensatory damages, some tort cases also result in an injunction, a court order designed to prevent a specific act from taking place again in the future.