Independent commentary and analysis covering tort law, personal injury, litigation, insurance disputes and developments in American civil law.
A tort is a private wrong the injured person can take to court. How it differs from a crime and a broken contract, the three kinds of liability, and what a court can award.
Draws on Cornell’s Wex encyclopedia (a secondary reference) and federal court guidance. Tort rules are set state by state.
Read the tort law guideWhat you must prove, which losses are easy to document and which are not, how an insurance claim differs from a lawsuit, and why there is no single national deadline.
California court guidance as a labeled example. Not medical malpractice.
Sort out whose policy is involved, put the decision next to the policy wording, and know what a state complaint can and cannot do.
The complaint process described is Texas’s.
What happens once a dispute is likely to reach court.
Once a dispute is reasonably foreseeable, routine cleanup can give way to a duty to preserve relevant records. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) separates ordinary loss of electronic information from destruction intended to deprive the other side of it.
Federal electronic-evidence rule; state courts and physical evidence can differ.
When an agreement binds, and what a breach claim has to show.
Courts ask what each side said and did, not what they privately meant. How that objective test decides whether a deal exists, and where sales of goods work differently.
California statutes cited and labeled.
A valid agreement, your own performance or a good excuse, the other side’s breach, and resulting harm, each shown with ordinary records.
Elements, defenses and deadlines vary by state.
Fees and confidentiality before and during representation.
Advance deposit, general retainer or flat fee: knowing which one you are signing changes what is refundable and when.
Depends on your agreement and your state’s rules.
Privilege protects communications made to get or give legal advice, not every conversation involving a lawyer, and everyday habits can waive it.
Exceptions and waiver rules differ by jurisdiction.
CWC LAW is an independent publication of legal information, not a law firm, and nothing here is advice about your situation. Each guide links the sources it relies on, says which jurisdiction a rule comes from, and labels hypotheticals as hypotheticals. No guide is presented as attorney-reviewed.
About CWC LAW, editorial standards and the privacy note.