Litigation Lawyers in Rainsville

In Rainsville, Alabama, a "tort" is defined as any civil wrong, besides breach of contract, for which the law provides a remedy.

Essentially, any bad act in Rainsville, Alabama that gives you the legal right to sue the person who committed the act, is a tort. Your specific right to sue is called a "cause of action."

Rainsville, Alabama's laws recognize many different torts. However, the civil litigation system only deals with a few of these dozens of torts with any frequency. While the most obscure torts are occasionally litigated, there are only a small amount that the average person is likely to deal with (either as a plaintiff or defendant) at some point in their lives. They include fraud, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and battery.

Types of Torts in Rainsville, Alabama

Negligence: Negligence is by far the most common tort that results in litigation in Rainsville, Alabama. Negligence is a failure to exercise the amount of care appropriate for a given situation, and causing harm to someone else as a result of this carelessness. For example, running a red light is inherently careless. If you run a red light, and cause personal injury or property damage, you are liable for the harm you caused. Of course, this is just one example, and negligence can occur in essentially any context.

Fraud: Unlike negligence, fraud is an intentional tort. Like negligence, courts in Rainsville, Alabama deal with it quite frequently. Put simply, fraud is a lie told for personal gain. It requires an affirmative misrepresentation, which the speaker knows to be false, intended to induce the victim to render some benefit to the speaker, which causes actual harm (such as financial loss) to the victim. It happens most often when somebody is trying to sell something for more than it's worth, and lies about the nature or value of the product to the buyer. If the buyer relies on the seller's false statements of fact in making the decision to buy the product, the seller has committed fraud. In such a case, the buyer is legally entitled to compensation for the harm suffered as a result of the fraud.

Battery: Battery is defined by the law of Rainsville, Alabama as any contact by one person, with the body of another, which is offensive or harmful. Any conduct that causes physical injury, pain, or emotional distress is battery. Also, you do not need to actually touch a person with your own body to commit battery - simply directing harmful contact (say, by throwing a rock) toward another person is sufficient to create liability for battery. Battery can also arise from "offensive" contact, which is essentially any physical contact that violates one's sense of personal dignity constitutes battery, and the victim could technically sue over it. However, in most cases like that, the plaintiff hasn't suffered any real harm, and will only be able to recover nominal damages, which would be far, far less than the cost of filing a lawsuit.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: This is a tort in Rainsville, Alabama that involves emotional distress, and does not require physical harm or financial loss. It is also known by the acronym IIED. IIED is committed when a person engages in outrageous conduct towards another, with the intent of causing emotional distress, and actually causes the intended distress.

How Can A Rainsville, Alabama Tort Lawyer Help?

If you believe that you've been the victim of a tort in Rainsville, Alabama, you have a right to go to court and attempt to prove your case. On the other hand, if you find that you are being sued for a tort, and believe that you aren't liable, you have every right to defend yourself in court.

Whatever your situation, a tort lawyer who has experience in representing people in Rainsville, Alabama tort cases can advise you on the best way to proceed, and give you the best chance of winning your case, whatever side you're on.