Understanding the basics of intentional torts will help you determine whether you have a viable claim to make in civil court. If you're the victim of assault or battery, you may be waiting for damage awards for more than 20 months. By taking the time to craft a strong case, you can reduce your legal fees and ensure a quicker settlement. Intentional vs. Negligent Torts The main difference between intentional and negligent torts is that in an intentional tort, the defendant willfully caused injury to the plaintiff. The defendant doesn't need to have intentionally caused harm--he only needs to have intentionally committed the act that caused the injury. For example, if a driver speeds though a red light and crashes into another car, he may not have intended to cause injury, but his conscious action was the proximate cause of damage. Some of the more common intentional torts include: • Defamation (knowingly publicizing false facts about an individual) • False imprisonment • Infliction of emotional distress • Misuse of legal procedure • Trespassing on private property. Tort Law in the United States: Assault and Battery In some cases, intentional torts are also crimes. The most common examples of this are assault and battery. Assault involves the act of causing fear of immediate harmful or offensive conduct. Threatening a person is a common type of assault. Battery involves intentionally bringing physical harm to another. The outcomes of criminal and civil tort lawsuits vary on a case-by-case basis. The burden of proof is much higher in criminal court, where the defendant's guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil tort case, the plaintiff must only establish that a majority of the evidence leads to the conclusion of liability on behalf of the defendant. A number of tort cases are acquitted in criminal court and then brought to civil court, where the liability is determined by the discretion of the jury. Invasion of Privacy Invasion of privacy is a breach of US privacy law and an intentional tort. Four categories of invasion of privacy are recognized in the laws of most US states: • Appropriation: the unauthorized usage of a person's name, likeness or identity for commercial purposes • False light: publicizing highly prejudicial facts that portray someone in a negative light • Intrusion: either physical or electronic invasion into a person's private domain • Public disclosure of private facts: publicizing private information that an individual would find offensive or invasive. Automobile liability and tort law are closely related, and automotive-related lawsuits can be either intentional or negligence tort cases.