Litigation Lawyers in Alexandria

A "tort" is specified in Alexandria, Kentucky as a legal wrong, not criminal in nature, for which the law provides compensation to the victim.

In Alexandria, Kentucky, a tort is essentially any bad thing that one person can do to another, which the law says the victim can sue over. This is called a "cause of action."

The law in Alexandria, Kentucky recognizes dozens of different torts. Some of them are fairly obscure, and don't come up frequently, and are largely relics of the common law. The torts that a person is most likely to deal with at some time in his or her life are negligence, fraud, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Types of Torts in Alexandria, Kentucky

Negligence: Negligence is the most often-litigated tort in Alexandria, Kentucky's civil litigation system. Negligence occurs when somebody does not exercise the level of care that a "reasonable person" would exercise in a similar situation, and causes an injury as a direct result. As an example, most people know that running a stop sign at high speed is very careless, and no reasonable person would be expected to do such a thing. Doing so clearly falls below the ordinary standard of care. So, if a person runs a stop sign at high speed, and hits another car, causing injuries and property damage, they will be liable to the person they harmed for the cost of whatever harm they caused.

Fraud: Unlike negligence, fraud is an intentional tort. Like negligence, courts in Alexandria, Kentucky deal with it quite often. 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 occurs 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 situation, the buyer is legally entitled to compensation for the harm suffered as a result of the fraud.

element of battery is pretty straightforward: if you engage in physical contact with another that causes pain and/or injury, you've committed battery. It's essential to note that the contact does not need to be harmful to amount to battery - it can also be offensive. What constitutes "offensive" contact is largely subjective, and unless the conduct is truly sleazy (unwanted sexual contact, for example), a battery lawsuit is pretty unlikely to result. One of the more grave forms of battery can occur when a patient is in surgery, and the surgeon, for whatever reason, operates on the wrong body part. Because the patient did not consent to this contact, the surgeon has committed a severe form of battery.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Intentional infliction of emotional distress, or IIED, is a relatively new tort in Alexandria, Kentucky. It is committed when someone deliberately causes emotional distress or trauma to another person by engaging in outrageous conduct, with the intent of causing such distress. Note that the defendant does not need to cause physical injuries to the plaintiff to be liable for IIED, but the plaintiff does have to produce evidence that they sustained emotional distress. This evidence usually comes in the form of a report from a psychiatrist who evaluated the plaintiff's mental condition.

How Can A Alexandria, Kentucky Tort Lawyer Help?

If you have been the victim of a tort in , Kentucky, you have the option to seek legal redress. And if you have been sued for a tort, you have a right to defend yourself.

In either of those situations, you will almost definitely benefit from the counsel of a competent tort lawyer in Alexandria, Kentucky. In addition to improving your chances of winning your case, should it go to trial, a reputable lawyer will also make every effort to prevent the issue from going to trial in the first place, by attempting to negotiate a settlement with the other side that's acceptable to both parties.