Tort law is one of the most familiar areas of law for incoming law students. It is a policy issue among political candidates, and is often featured in both late-night commercials for class action lawsuits and the ubiquitous television ads for accident attorneys. During your tort law course at school, you will be tasked with delving deep into the details of these types of laws and cases. In many instances, this can be made a great deal easier by employing the assistance of a tort law tutor. Fortunately, Varsity Tutors can help you connect with a professional tort law tutor in your area.
While it is common to feel a familiarity with the subject upon arrival at law school, tort law presents a unique set of challenges for any novice law student. Most tort law courses begin with intentional torts such as battery and assault, two concepts that you would learn about in criminal law as well. Thus, you are learning about civil and criminal assault and battery concurrently. Even for an intrepid law student, the distinction can be very confusing. Furthermore, students often spend a great deal of time focusing on the concept of negligence after learning about intentional torts. Proving negligence is significantly different from proving an intentional tort. The elements involve determining whether there was a duty of care, if that duty was breached, if an action caused harm, and if there are actual damages present. Thus, you will have to accommodate a distinct shift in your approach about midway through your tort law course. Finally, many students have difficulty spotting torts at all. For instance, if a person slips on an icy sidewalk, there are students who simply view this as a situation where the person should have been more careful. These students are incredulous that the plaintiff could be characterized as a victim of someone's negligence. This is especially true of less-obvious torts. How, for instance, can a company be sued if someone spills hot coffee on him or herself?