When someone is harmed due to another person’s actions, speaking with a personal injury attorney is often the first step to understanding the correct legal path. In Illinois, two areas of law frequently intersect: tort law and personal injury law.
Although they are closely related, they are not identical. Knowing the difference can help you protect your rights, take the right legal steps, and seek the compensation you deserve.
What is Tort Law?
Tort law is a branch of civil law that deals with wrongful acts or failures to act that cause harm to others. In Illinois, tort law allows a person who has suffered a loss—whether physical, emotional, financial, or to their reputation—to seek compensation or another legal remedy from the party responsible.
There are several types of torts, and the major categories are:
- Negligence occurs when someone fails to exercise reasonable care and thereby harms another person.
- Intentional torts occur when someone deliberately causes harm, such as through assault or battery.
- Strict liability applies when someone is held responsible for harm, even in the absence of negligence or intent, such as in cases involving defective products.
Tort law encompasses a range of situations, including bodily injury, property damage, reputational harm, and financial loss resulting from wrongful conduct. In Illinois, tort law may apply to claims involving defective products, unsafe premises, animal attacks, or wrongful death.
In summary, tort law provides the overall legal framework for civil wrongs and offers injured individuals a way to seek compensation or other remedies.
What Is Personal Injury Law?
Personal injury law is a specific part of tort law. It focuses on cases where a person is physically or emotionally injured due to someone else’s actions or inaction. For example, if a driver causes an accident because they were texting and another person gets hurt, that would be a personal injury claim.
Common personal injury cases include car accidents, slip-and-fall injuries, dog bites, medical malpractice, and defective products that cause injury. The purpose of personal injury law is to help the injured person recover losses such as medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
In Illinois, most personal injury claims are based on the principle of negligence. This means the injured party must show that the other person owed them a duty of care, that this duty was breached, that the breach caused their injury, and that they suffered measurable damages.
Key Differences Between Tort Law and Personal Injury Law
Tort law encompasses a wide range of civil wrongs, including injuries to persons, property damage, defamation, and business-related harm. Personal injury law is narrower, focusing solely on cases involving physical or emotional harm to an individual.
In tort law, a claim could involve harm to property, financial loss, or damage to reputation. Personal injury law specifically deals with harm that affects a person’s body or mind.
Different types of torts have different legal standards. In most personal injury cases, negligence is the main focus, requiring proof of duty, breach, causation, and damages. Other torts, such as defamation or trespass, have their own distinct elements that must be proven.
Contact Our Lake County Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation
If you’ve been injured or suffered harm in Illinois, understanding the difference between tort law and personal injury law can help you take the right steps. Both legal areas aim to make victims whole and ensure accountability, but knowing which applies to your situation enables you to move forward with confidence and clarity.
Contact Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers to learn more about your rights and start the process toward recovery. Our Lake County personal injury lawyers offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis.
We serve throughout all of Northbrook, IL, and Lake County.
Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers
601 Skokie Blvd Suite 401
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 513-9582
