ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Intentional Wrongs

Is a civil lawsuit based on liability for an intentional tort different from a lawsuit based on negligence or strict liability?

Not really. You may claim the same types of damages, but you must prove different things. A person who is found liable for an intentional tort does more than just act carelessly. The person committing the intentional tort knows the consequences of his or her action. If you pick up a realistic model of an AK-47 and point it at another person out of the window of your car, you are going to scare that person. Under the law of intentional torts, you may be liable for an assault.

You do not have to intend to harm that person to be liable for an intentional tort, either; you even may be attempting to help that person. In one reported case, for example, a defendant was found liable for an intentional tort when he proceeded to set the broken arm of a woman who had fallen, despite her protests. Unlike a negligence action, a plaintiff alleging an intentional tort does not need to show actual damages to recover.