ABSTRACT
Among the most complex and challenging areas for the forensic psychologist are personal injury-or tort-and employment litigation. According to the classic text, Prosser and Keeton on Torts (Keeton et al., 1984), there is no single definition of a tort. In general, torts may be defined as those civil wrongs that are not breaches of contract. In general, these do not violate criminal law, although there are exceptions.1 In addition, for an act to be considered a tort, it must create injury, which is defined as harm to an individual’s interest or property. Included among these are personal injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents or from negligent maintenance of property, defamation, alienation of affection, and so on. The term tort is derived from the Latin tortus, which means “twisted,” as well as from the medieval French “tort,” meaning “wrong.” Interestingly, tortus is also the root of the modern word “torture.” Torts are a creation of common law. For the most part, our tort law derives from English common law of the 19th century (Keeton et al., 1984). Individuals are held to have a responsibility not to harm others or their interests either through malfeasance or negligence.
