Term | Definition |
Actual Harm | The victim suffers an injury, has property destroyed or loses a lot of
money. |
Alternative Dispute Resolution | occurs when parties try and resolve
a disagreement
outside of the usual court system |
Arbitration | giving the power to settle their dispute to a third
party. |
Assault | occurs when one person intentionally puts another in reasonable fear of an
offensive or harmful bodily contact |
Assumption of Risk | a defense raised when the plaintiff knew of the risk involved and
still took the chance (assumed risk) of being
injured |
Battery | the harmful or offensive touching of another |
Breach | when you breach or break your duty to another
person |
Causation | means that breach of duty caused the injury |
Comparative Negligence | a defense that is raised when the carelessness of each party compared to the other party’s carelessness |
Contributory Negligence | a defense whenever the defendant can
show that the victim
did something that helped cause his or her own injuries |
Conversion | when property is stolen, destroyed or used in a manner that is
inconsistent with an owner’s rights |
Court Injunctions | is a court order that prevents a party
from performing a specific act
and may be temporary of
permanent |
Damages | is a payment recovered in court by a person who
has suffered an injury |
Defamation | a false statement that injures a persons’ reputation or good name |
Duty | the obligation to use a reasonable standard of care to prevent injury to others |
False Imprisonment | the intentional confinement of a person against the person’s will
and without the lawful ability to do so |
Fraud | occurs when there is an intentional misrepresentation of an existing important fact (that is a lie) which causes the victim to give up a right or something of value |
Interference with Contracts | if a third party encourages a breach in any way,
then that third party may be liable in tort |
Invasion of Privacy | uninvited intrusion into a person’s personal relationships and
activities |
Mediation | occurs when parties to a dispute invite a mediator, to help solve the problem |
Money Damages | are money damages received as if you suffer a loss as an injured party |
Negligence | is a tort that results when one person carelessly injures another. It is an accidental tort and requires no intent. |
Proximate Cause | when it is reasonably foreseeable that a breach of duty will result in an injury. |
Punitive Damages | are money payments for damages that go beyond what the
innocent party actually lost. Designed to punish the wrongdoer |
Tort | is a private wrong committed by one person against another |
Trespass to Land | entry onto the property of another without consent |
Vicarious Liability | when one person is liable for the torts of another |