Anderson Injury Lawyers | April 8, 2025 | Personal Injury
You may hear torts mentioned often when involved in a personal injury case. This is a common term that can have several applications. Intentional torts occur when someone deliberately causes harm to another person or their property rather than through negligence. Common examples include assault, battery, false imprisonment, fraud, defamation, trespassing, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Unlike accidents, these actions involve willful misconduct, which can lead to both civil liability and potential criminal charges. If you’re a victim of an intentional tort, you may be entitled to compensation for damages such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Understanding Torts
A tort is an action or inaction resulting in identifiable harm to another. According to a report from the Congressional Research Service, tort law has three categories of offenses. These are:
- Intentional torts
- Negligence
- Strict Liability
In the context of personal injury or tort law, we often think about situations like slip-and-falls, defective products, or car accidents. These may be good examples of negligence or strict liability cases that only require evidence of negligence but not intent, which is often a defining feature of negligence and intentional torts.
Intentional Torts
Intentional torts require the injury victim to show that the other party intended to harm the victim. These actions might also make you more likely to recover punitive damages if your case goes to court.
Assault/Battery
One of the most apparent and common forms of intentional tort is assault or battery. Texas law defines assault as intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another. A personal injury case to recover damages after an assault is often heavily related to any criminal charges related to the incident. If the offender is convicted of this charge, it may be much easier to recover punitive damages.
Theft
Another example of an intentional tort is theft. Theft occurs when someone unlawfully obtains property with the intent to deprive the owner of it. In most cases, a criminal theft charge requires knowledge that the property is owned by someone else. In personal injury cases, this may result in a lawsuit for the value of the property or the cost to repair it.
Fraud
Fraud can be similar to theft in that it involves deceiving someone to obtain access to information or property. Fraud can include theft, forgery, identity theft, or deceit, among other behaviors.
Defamation
Defamation is often known as slander or libel and is a civil charge, unlike the above-listed offenses. It occurs when someone makes an untrue statement about you that negatively affects your reputation. This generally refers to someone who intentionally makes a false statement about you, which makes it an intentional tort.
Intentional Torts in Personal Injury
Many common intentional torts accompany criminal charges, and the victims are unaware that they may also pursue civil charges. The purpose of a criminal case is to punish those who are convicted, not to provide resources or compensation to the people they harmed. However, a personal injury claim aims to recover damages for your losses and injuries, which may often be done along with criminal charges.
In a civil case, the burden of proof is lower than in a criminal trial. While criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, civil cases only require a preponderance of the evidence. This means it must be more likely than not that the defendant’s actions caused your harm. This lower standard makes it possible to hold someone accountable in civil court even if they are acquitted in criminal court.
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Firm in Texas
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Fort Worth or Dallas and need legal help, contact our personal injury lawyers at Anderson Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. We proudly serve Tarrant County, Dallas County, and throughout Texas.
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Fort Worth Office
1310 W El Paso St, Fort Worth, TX 76102
(817) 294-1900
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Fort Worth Office (Secondary)
6618 Fossil Bluff Dr # 108, Fort Worth, TX 76137
(817) 631-4113
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Dallas Office
408 W Eighth St Suite 202, Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 327-8000
Anderson Injury Lawyers – Dallas Office (Secondary)
6301 Gaston Ave suite 820, Dallas, TX 75214
(469) 457-4711
