While the term "international tort" may seem like legalese, it's not nearly as difficult to understand as you might think. An intentional tort is a way of being harmed that may have been as far from an accident as possible. Read on to find out more so you can take action and be paid for the harm done to you.

Understanding Torts

This term focuses on a specific category of personal injury law. Most people are more familiar with personal injury law being used after a car accident to compensate the victim of the careless driver. Torts, however, are in a different category, and an intentional tort is not related in any way to an accident. To better understand what a tort is, it might be helpful to look at a few examples of intentional torts and what the civil course of action may be called for in relation to the tort.

Examples of Intentional Torts

1. Detaining someone without their permission, which is also known as false imprisonment. Violence or restraints are not a necessary element of false imprisonment — just the threat of those is enough for a course of action. For example, being told that you may not leave a room or your family will be harmed is false imprisonment.
2. Going onto property even after being warned or posting signs means someone may be liable for trespassing.
3. If a victim can show that their business, personal life, financial situation, or reputation suffered harm as a result of an untrue utterance or writing, it might be a defamation case.
4. Fraud is when a person is tricked into a situation that results in financial losses.
5. If a situation gets violent, you can sue the aggressor for battery or assault.
6. If a loved one met with their death due to the negligence of someone, it might be called wrongful death.

As you can clearly see from the examples above, the main difference between an intentional tort and an accident is that a person or business entity intended that harm should come to an individual.

Civil Actions That Are Not Torts

The below forms of harm are either accidents or not necessarily intentional:

• A slip and fall in a retail store.
• A person is attacked by a dog that got off their leash.
• A driver ran a stop sign and hit another car.

If you think that some intentional torts look a lot like criminal acts, you are correct. The criminal justice system operates separately from each other, though. If you believe you have an intentional tort, you might be owed money damages. The only way to find out is to speak to a lawyer before you agree to a financial offer. Find out more by contacting a personal injury lawyer.