Negligent Torts

Proximate Causation, Duty of Care and "But for"

According to Bjorklun (1999), the largest amount of litigation in the area of personal injury consists of unintentional torts. The definition provided by Black's Law Dictionary indicates that a tort in general is "a private or civil wrong or injury including action for bad faith breach of contract for which the court will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages" (1999, p. 1489). As Bjorklun emphasizes, though, "Not every unintentional act that results in an injury to another person or in damage to property is a tort. In day-to-day living, an individual engages in numerous activities that involve varying degrees of risk of injury to another. It is only those acts that are negligent that form the basis for a tort" (1999, p. 82). Therefore, unintentional torts are referred to as "negligent torts" by many legal...
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