Understanding Some of the Most Common Types of Civil Cases
Before this happens, you need to understand some of the most common types of civil cases so you know what to expect and can try and protect yourself from them.
Whether you’re filing a personal injury claim against a business or reopening a closed PA worker’s compensation case, you’ll find value in the descriptions and definitions below.
Property Disputes
The benefits of owning property are difficult to weigh or express but one of the downsides is opening yourself up to property disputes. Unfortunately, they are very common and usually only resolved through professional help.One good side of property disputes is that many don’t end up in court because they can usually be resolved by going over each deed again or by hiring a surveyor to do the same thing. Thai intervention and unfortunate expense is usually all it takes.
The party in the wrong apologizes, removes the offending structure or anything else that would close the conflict. Sometimes the other party doesn’t fail quietly and instead files a lawsuit to settle the dispute once and for all.
These disputes can occur between neighbors but may also involve other parties such as HOAs or local governments about whether or not they have jurisdiction over you, landlords and tenants arguing over the lease and who breached it, and title defects.
While some can be avoided with a surveyor, most of these must be resolved through mediation or legal action. Luckily, many of the property disputes you’ll encounter will be simple boundary disputes which can be easily resolved.
Torts
Should one party bring legal action against another for something they did that caused harm or injury, then you are experiencing a tort claim. As this definition may imply, every personal injury claim is a tort claim and there are three different types: intentional torts, negligent torts, and strict liability torts.Intentional torts are simple to explain. One person did something full well knowing the harm it could and likely would cause. For example, if you borrow a ladder from a neighbor, they hand you one that they know is broken and you get hurt using it, then the case is considered an intentional tort.
Negligent torts are where things start getting complicated. These occur when a defendant’s actions were unreasonably dangerous. Let’s say you need to get some milk, so you go to the grocery store. On your way through you look at the soup aisle.
The aisle is clear; you are the only thing there aside from the soup, of course. However, as you step toward a shelf to examine a can more closely, you lose traction on the wet floor and fall. Since there was no wet floor sign, you could sue and claim damages for this negligence.
There is one way to ensure both of the previously discussed cases are dismissed: personal negligence. If you dropped a can of soup and slipped on that, you likely couldn’t hold the store liable since your negligence resulted in your injury. However, strict liability cases don’t have this fail state.
Typically, these apply to product failures that cause injury. Even if a company can prove that they took all steps to ensure the dangerous item was as safe as possible, it won’t matter because their defect was released to the public and caused harm because their actions caused harm despite the safety measures.
Class Actions
It’s not uncommon where the actions of a few harm many. When at least one of the many steps forward to fight back and represent the harmed, called a class, the resulting lawsuit is known as a class action lawsuit. Sometimes the class in these lawsuits is small while other times it is massive.For example, if the city decides on a construction project and something that occurs during the project causes damage to a neighborhood, at least one neighbor will likely take charge and file a civil lawsuit to recuperate damages caused by the construction work. Larger class action lawsuits are typically advertised in some way to those affected.
You might receive an email notifying you that you could join the lawsuit as you were negatively affected by the defendant's actions or you may have seen the commercials on TV saying that if you were diagnosed with a certain type of cancer. Then you could join a lawsuit against a baby powder manufacturing company since their product likely caused your harm.
Whether the class is large or small, all individuals in the class will receive a cut of the judgment or settlement winnings to cover their losses.
Breach of Contract
Let’s say you and a friend agree to work together on a business venture. You provide the money and they make a toy.You both sign a contract saying that you provided the starting capital and will be paid certain amounts of money each month based on the toy’s performance, but the friend must always make a certain number of toys so the monetary investment was worth it.
You are horrified later as you examine why the toys aren’t doing well and discover that your partner has failed to make anywhere near as many toys as they said they would. Hurt and outraged, you contact a lawyer because your partner has breached your contract and it’s time for them to face the music.
In order for a breach of contract claim to be valid, the contract must be valid and one party needs to have been harmed while upholding their end of the deal.
Most of the time these cases result in the plaintiff being awarded damages to make them whole though some may result in complete termination of the contract or for it to be fulfilled. The latter usually occurs in real estate cases since each piece of property is too unique for money alone to cover the loss.
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Posted - 10/27/2024
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