Tort Liability: Types And Examples (June 2025)

What Does Tort Mean in Law?

Most people have likely never heard the term “tort.” However, it refers to a field of law that is a cornerstone of the American legal system. Every lawyer learns about torts in law school, and they represent one of the core subjects tested on every state bar examination.

Tort liability, which forms the basis for many personal injury lawyer cases, arises from physical, financial, or reputational harm caused by someone else’s actions, such as negligence in car accidents, medical malpractice, or harm from defective products. Confusingly, however, not every action results in liability. And even more odd is that some liabilities arise from inaction or unintended actions. Confusingly, however, not every action results in liability. And even more odd is that some liabilities arise from inaction or unintended actions.

The Four Elements of Tort Liability

Some people equate tort liability with negligence. However, negligence is just one form of tort liability. Negligence involves the following four elements:

1. Duty of care
2. Breach of duty
3. Loss
4. Causation

If your litigation lawyer proves those four elements, you can win a negligence case.

Types of Tort Liability Explained

The best way to understand how tort liability works is by examining the types of liability and tort law examples for each.

On that note, the first thing to learn is that torts fall into the following three categories:

Intentional Torts

As their name suggests, intentional torts happen when the at-fault party causes harm through an intentional action. Examples of these torts include the following:

• Battery from intentional harmful or offensive contact
• Assault from intentionally causing imminent fear of battery
• False imprisonment by intentionally restraining someone’s freedom
• Defamation from intentionally speaking or publishing false statements of fact

Notably, victims of intentional torts do not need to prove that the person responsible for their injuries intended to cause their specific injuries. Instead, to prove tortious liability, victims only need to prove that the tortfeasor (the person who committed the tort) intended to take harmful action.

That has two important implications. First, it means you can seek compensation for an intentional tort where you were harmed due to an action directed at someone else. For example, you would have a valid claim if someone intentionally threw a coffee cup at someone else but hit you instead.

Second, it means you can pursue claims for injuries that might have been more serious than intended. Suppose someone tells lies about you in an online video that goes viral. You can recover your losses even if the tortfeasor did not intend for such widespread publication. This also includes situations involving the intentional transmission of a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Victims in such cases can pursue legal claims to recover compensation for physical harm and medical expenses.

Negligence

Breaches of duty to particular persons causing loss or injury are categorized as acts of negligence. Negligence allows victims to recover compensation for injuries resulting from unintentional acts. In other words, it encompasses wrongs wherein the other party did not intend the action that harmed you but injured you anyway.

However, negligence has its limits. In particular, tort law negligence requires proof of the following four elements:

• A duty of care formed from the relationship between the parties
• A breach of duty by failing to act with reasonable care
• Damages sustained due to physical injuries
• Causation of those damages by the breach of duty

The best way to understand the scope of negligence is with an example: Suppose that someone T-boned your car when they went through a stop sign while you were in an intersection. The driver might have committed a tort violation if the accident happened because they were texting and failed to see the stop sign. Such actions represent a failure to exercise reasonable care.

Strict Liability

Strict liability covers injuries resulting from potentially hazardous activities. Manufacturers are strictly liable for injuries caused by the defective products they release to the public, for instance. That means manufacturers are liable for design, manufacturing, and warning defects, even if they were completely unaware of them.

Similarly, dog owners in many states, such as Arizona, are strictly liable for injuries or property damage caused by their dogs. As a result, victims can sue for dog bites regardless of the dog’s history of viciousness or the owner’s efforts to contain the dog. In these cases, the average dog bite settlement amounts can vary significantly, influenced by factors like the severity of the injuries, medical expenses, and the emotional distress suffered by the victim.

Examples of Tort Liability

One of the best ways to understand tort liability is by looking at its role in common situations. Here are some examples of this concept in action:

Car Accidents

Car accidents typically fall under negligence. All road users owe a duty of care to others on the road. Thus, to win a car accident case, a car accident lawyer must typically prove that a driver exposed other road users to an unreasonable risk of injury or death.

They can do so by showing that this risk resulted from a traffic violation or another dangerous, but legal, act.

Medical Malpractice

Healthcare providers owe patients a duty of care to provide reasonably competent treatment and therapy. When providers fail to meet this standard, medical malpractice lawyers can pursue claims against them. For example, a doctor who misdiagnoses a patient’s cancer may be liable for the time the patient lost due to delayed treatment.

Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse raises an important issue. Under different theories of liability, a victim may be able to file claims against more than one party.

So when someone is abused by nursing home staff, the victim may have an intentional tort claim against the staff member who abused them. However, they may also have a negligence claim against the nursing home operator for failing to supervise or monitor its workers.

Defective Drugs

An injured consumer may have a strict liability claim against a pharmaceutical company that releases a drug that harms them. Suppose that a medication for sickle cell anemia might increase the likelihood of a stroke. If the manufacturer failed to warn consumers about the risk, it may be liable for any resulting losses.

How the Tort Liability System Works

When you suffer an injury, your very first step will be to, of course, seek medical care. But as your bills and missed paychecks mount, you’ll need to look for a way to relieve the financial pressure. A personal injury claim can provide essential compensation to help a victim like yourself make ends meet while they focus on their health.

Many tortfeasors have liability insurance. Under these policies, an insurer agrees to pay any damages caused by a covered act. For example, a doctor will carry medical malpractice insurance to pay for any losses resulting from professional negligence.

As such, you or your lawyer will file an insurance claim. The insurer will investigate your injury and its causes and decide whether to pay the claim. If the insurer accepts the claim, you and your lawyer will negotiate a fair personal injury settlement.

However, insurers also deny many claims. You can file a lawsuit against the at-fault party if you cannot overcome the denial. In the suit, you and your attorney must prove liability and submit evidence of your losses. The evidence will help the judge or jury determine fair compensation for your injuries.

Compensation Recoverable for Tort Liability

You can recover two types of compensation after a tort. Special tort liability refers to losses that are unique (or “special”) to your situation and must, therefore, be proved. Examples of special losses include medical bills and lost income, which depend on your specific injuries.

General tort liability describes losses that everyone suffers. For example, everyone experiences pain from their injuries, as well as anxiety and worries about their health following their accident. Thus, pain and suffering are examples of general losses.

Tort Liability in Medical Malpractice, Products and Property Damage

Tort cases can cover many fields, including medicine and manufacturing. Additionally, your claim can take your property losses into account. For example, if you were in a car accident and broke your glasses in addition to suffering whiplash, you could include the cost of replacing your glasses in your negligence claim against the other driver.

Tort Liability Insurance: What It Covers

Tort liability insurance is the primary mechanism for protecting tortfeasors and compensating victims. Liability insurance policies compensate victims of covered acts performed by people or businesses named in the policies.

For example, auto liability insurance compensates victims injured in car accidents caused by a covered driver’s negligence. Every state except New Hampshire requires bodily injury liability coverage, property damage liability coverage or both.

Learn More About Torts From ConsumerShield

Personal injury attorneys practice tort law. However, many victims of physical or reputational injuries do not know where to start looking for the right lawyer for their cases. ConsumerShield will help you gain a tighter grasp of the law and find an attorney who will best represent you. Contact us for a free case evaluation.