Vermont & New Hampshire Injury Blog

The Sources of Tort Law

A tort is a civil wrong resulting in injury or harm to another person. The tort, or civil wrong, provides the grounds for a lawsuit. For more information on torts, see What is a Tort? A brief overview of Negligent Torts, Intentional Torts, and Strict Liability.   At Van Dorn & Curtiss, we specialize in personal injury litigation and helping injured people get monetary compensation for the harm they have suffered.  One of the ways in which we provide outstanding legal service to our clients is by being familiar with the sources of tort law and the current developments in tort law. 

Tort law is state law based upon common law and statutory law.  Common law is also known as law created by judges while statutory law is that which is enacted through the state legislature.  Both New Hampshire and Vermont have adopted state statues which apply to civil actions based on tort law.

Many judges and lawyers also refer to the Restatement (Second) of Torts.  The Restatement (Second) of Tort is published by the American Law Institute and is considered a secondary authority (as opposed to a primary authority such as a state statute). 

In addition, Federal law, such as the Federal Tort Claims Act is an important statute, which permits private parties to sue the United States in a federal court torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States.