What You Need to Know About Florida Tort Laws
Have you been wrongfully injured? Here’s everything you need to know about Florida tort laws.
In Florida, tort laws protect and compensate people when the acts of others have injured them. Tort laws apply in courts as civil cases.
What are Tort laws?
Tort law is the law of wrongful injuries. Tort law protects and compensates people injured by negligent or intentional wrongful acts of others. Tort is the invasion of someone’s results which results in harm to them.
Who is involved in a Tort case?
The plaintiff is the person who was wronged and is suing. The other person involved is the defendant or the wrongdoer.
Related: Florida Personal Injury FAQs
How a Tort Case is Won
To win a tort case, the plaintiff must prove four things:
- Duty
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Damages
Duty can take on different definitions, such as laws concerning driving or common knowledge about reasonable care. A breach of duty occurs when the wrongdoer fails to comply with what the duty requires. For causation, the plaintiff must prove their injuries resulted from the defendant’s actions. Damages can define the plaintiff’s injuries and losses or the amount of money the jury awards to the plaintiff.
Florida Tort Laws
Florida’s tort laws help claimants recover monetary damages and possibly prevent the same thing from happening to someone else. Monetary losses can include lost income, physical pain, medical costs, etc. Monetary damages are damages that have already occurred and damages an individual can reasonably assume will occur in the future. There are two types of tort claims: incidental and intentional.
Incidental
An incidental tort claim is more common than an intentional tort claim. An incidental tort involves negligent or careless actions resulting in an accident or injury. An example of incidental tort is someone running a red light and causing a car accident. Incidental torts are situations in which one person owes another a duty of care, fails to fulfill the duty, and causes injury. In the example of running a red light, the duty of care would have been to make a proper stop at the light. Establishing fault is the main requirement to win cases including incidental tort.
Related: Florida Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
Intentional
An intentional tort commonly involves a criminal act. Intentional tort claims require a higher burden of proof. Examples of intentional torts are acts of physical violence such as battery, assault, or even trespassing.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one would like to learn more about Florida Tort Laws, get your free consultation with one of our Personal Injury Attorneys in Florida today!
