Intentional Torts
What are Intentional Torts?
• Actions that you take deliberately to cause
harm
• Two types – those causing injury to people
and those causing injury to property
• In court, the focus is the intent to do the
act, not the desire to cause harm
Damages

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Compensatory damages – awarded to
compensate for the harm caused by the
defendant (pays for lost wages, hospital
bills, pain and suffering)
Nominal damages – a token amount of
money awarded by the court to show that a
plaintiff’s claim was justified
Punitive damages – money awarded to the
plaintiff to punish the defendant for
malicious, willful, or outrageous acts
Torts that Injure People
• Battery – occurs when a person
intentionally causes harmful or offensive
contact with another person (offensive –
whatever would offend the average
person)
• Assault – someone makes a person fear
an immediate harmful act (can be an
intentional threat, force, or movement that
causes reasonable fear)
Torts that Injure People
Infliction of emotional distress –
intentionally using words or actions that
are meant to scare someone, cause
extreme anxiety, or emotional distress
 False Imprisonment – when someone
intentionally or wrongfully confines a
person against his or her will

Defamation
• Harming a person’s reputation
• Slander – oral statements that harm a
person’s reputation
• Libel – written statements that harm a
person’s reputation
Torts that Harm Property
3 types of property
 Real property – land and the items
attached to it
 Personal property – property that can be
moved
 Intellectual property – ownership
interest in creations of a person’s mind

Real Property Torts
• Trespassing – entering a person’s property without
permission
• Attractive nuisance doctrine – property owners
must take reasonable care to eliminate a
dangerous condition on their land or to protect
children from injury where they are likely to
trespass
• Nuisance – an unreasonable interference with
your ability to use and enjoy your property
• Injunction- a court order to do, or not do, a certain
act
Personal and Intellectual
Property
Conversion – when someone unlawfully
exercises control over another’s property
 Patent – official recognition of your
ownership of an invention
 Copyright – official recognition of some
form of creative expression (writing,
music, movie, etc.)
 Infringement – when someone uses a
copyrighted or patented work

Defenses to Intentional Torts
• Consent – arguing that the plaintiff agreed to
the harmful conduct and gave up the right to
sue
• Privilege – justifying an action because the
defendant’s (or public’s) interests require it –
legal authority
• Self defense – using force to protect yourself,
as long as the actions are not excessive
• Defense of property – same as self defense,
but for property