Litigation Lawyers in Farmington

In Farmington, New Mexico, a "tort" is any wrongful act, besides a breach of contract or a crime, that the legal system can remedy.

In Farmington, New Mexico, when a tort is committed, and the victim of the tort is vested with a right to sue the person who committed the tort, they are said to have a "cause of action."

In Farmington, New Mexico, there are laws and court rulings that recognize scores of different torts. Many of these torts are very obscure, and are almost never litigated. In the modern era, the torts that the average person is most likely to face are fraud, negligence, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Types of Torts in Farmington, New Mexico

Negligence: Negligence is by far the most frequent tort that results in litigation in Farmington, New Mexico. 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 Farmington, New Mexico 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 commonly 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 Farmington, New Mexico 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 really 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 basically 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: Intentional infliction of emotional distress, or IIED, is a relatively new tort in Farmington, New Mexico. 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 suffered emotional distress. This evidence normally comes in the form of a report from a psychiatrist who evaluated the plaintiff's mental condition.

How Can A Farmington, New Mexico Tort Lawyer Help?

If you believe that you've been the victim of a tort in Farmington, New Mexico, 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 accountable, you have every right to defend yourself in court.

In either of those cases, you will almost certainly benefit from the counsel of a competent tort lawyer in Farmington, New Mexico. In addition to improving your chances of winning your case, should it go to trial, a brilliant 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.