Part of knowing when you may need to hire a personal injury lawyer in Laramie, Wyoming is understanding when you’ve been wronged in a way that would allow you to bring a personal injury lawsuit. Intentional torts are just one area where a person’s actions may justify a lawsuit. Let’s clear away some of the jargon to understand what an intentional tort is and what your options might be. For specific help to your situation, be sure to contact us directly.
Examples of Intentional Torts and Their Implications in Personal Injury Claims in Laramie, Wyoming
What’s a “Tort?”
A tort is a legal term that refers to any wrongful act that harms another person. You can probably understand right away that this is a broad definition and thus can cover quite a wide range of things. This means that tort lawsuits have several subcategories.
Unintentional torts are very common in personal injury, and these can be brought when one person’s negligence harms another. In other words, the person doing the harm did so because they were being careless or foolish, not because they actually wanted to harm someone.
In contrast, an intentional tort is when the wrongdoer deliberately intends to harm. The biggest and first implication of an intentional tort is that it is much more likely to result in punitive damages. In an unintentional tort, the negligence must be so egregious that the court wants to make an example of the negligent person, and that simply doesn’t happen very often. But when a person or entity goes to hurt you intentionally, punitive damages become more likely and can result in much larger awards for damages.
Some Examples
Invasion of Privacy
Generally speaking, an invasion of privacy is any unjustified intrusion into your personal life without your permission. For example, it is usually an invasion of privacy for someone to take pictures of you while you are in your own home, eavesdrop on your conversations, or try to peek through your windows. There are other possible examples, but generally the standard is to ask whether a reasonable person would think that the intrusion was objectionable.
Fraud
Fraud is a type of intentional tort where someone lies to another with the intent to deceive, and this lie brings harm. A fraud has occurred when a person knows that what they are saying is a lie, knows that the person they are speaking to will be likely to believe them, the person who heard it did rely on that information, and harm came from it.
False Imprisonment
False imprisonment is any attempt to confine a person by someone who does not have any legal authority to do so. No one is normally allowed to try to stop another person from moving against their will, with two small exceptions. First, if the police have good reason to suspect a person of having committed a crime, they can detain them for a short period: usually just long enough to secure the scene and find out who everyone is. After that, they have to either make a formal arrest or let the person go.
There is also a common-law exception that Wyoming generally recognizes, which allows a shopkeeper to detain a thief for a limited time on store premises while they wait for law enforcement to arrive. Outside of these two exceptions, any attempt to stop a person from moving can potentially be false imprisonment and give rise to a lawsuit for personal injury.
Assault and/or Battery
Assault, battery, or assault and battery are usually intentional. Assault takes place when someone tries to injure another person, even if they ultimately fail to do so. However, if they do fail in the attempt, while it may be possible to bring a criminal charge, it’s unlikely you would be able to bring a personal injury lawsuit because personal injury implies that harm has been done.
Battery occurs when someone intentionally or recklessly harms another person through physical force, and you may be able to bring a personal injury lawsuit if you have suffered harm as a result of battery.
Assault and battery is an extremely serious crime under Wyoming law where someone commits a battery but while showing extreme indifference to life, using or threatening to use a deadly weapon, or knowingly attempts to injure a pregnant woman.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) can be cause for a lawsuit if the defendant’s behavior was so extreme that it can reasonably said to have exceeded the bounds of decency in a civilized society. This is a pretty high bar, and these claims can be difficult to prosecute. However, in the case of severe abuse, constant threats of violence, or prolonged harassment, it can be possible to successfully bring an IIED lawsuit.
The defendant must have deliberately intended to cause emotional distress or acted with reckless disregard, and the distress must be more than just the ordinary annoyance or distress that the average person feels in the course of adult human life and our natural interactions with other people.
Conversion
Conversion is the civil law term for what most of us think of as simply theft. Theft is a crime that can be prosecuted in criminal court, but if you want to bring a personal injury lawsuit, the act is referred to as conversion and means that the defendant attempted to “exercise, dominion and control” over your property without your permission. Even if that property is later returned, it may still be possible to bring a lawsuit, though the chances of getting damages are much higher if the property is either not returned or is damaged in some way.
Where Things Get Tricky
An element of intentional tort that can be difficult to prove at times is the intent to injure or harm. For example, suppose that someone deliberately tried to trip another person, not intending for them to really fall but just wanting to scare them. They did not know that their intended “victim” had recently suffered an injury and was likely to fall. During the prank, the victim does fall and is badly injured. The actions of the prankster were obviously intentional, but they did not intend to cause harm.
Working with a Personal Injury Lawyer
It’s always important to work with a lawyer if you’re considering a personal injury lawsuit. In many cases, if you’re able to bring an intentional tort lawsuit, it’s also possible to charge the person with the crime, and the state may be in the process of doing so. This can complicate your case in some ways and possibly help it in others. If the person is found guilty, they may end up in prison, pay enormous fines and legal bills, and have nothing left to reimburse you for your losses. At the same time, your lawyer may be able to use aspects of the criminal case to strengthen your civil case. A lawyer is best positioned to help you understand all your options and get as much compensation as possible.
In other cases, intentional torts are committed by entities, like a business or a healthcare provider, and in this case, the problem is not so much that there is no money to pay your damages as that these entities can afford an army of experienced lawyers to fight you. You need someone on your team with experience and the will to fight on your behalf.
At Ochs Law Firm, we have that experience and are the law firm for those who don’t know where to turn. Contact Ochs Law Firm now for a consultation.
