Some Common Causes of Action at Tort and Contract

1. Defamation.

To prove defamation, plaintiffs must prove (and complaint must allege) the following four elements:

· First, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant made a false and defamatory statement concerning the plaintiff.

· Second, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant made an unprivileged publication to a third party.

· Third, the plaintiff must prove that the publisher acted at least negligently in publishing the communication.

· Fourth, in some cases, the plaintiff must prove special damages. (From Findlaw.com)

2. Negligence.

To prove negligence, the plaintiff must prove (and complaint must allege) the following four elements to show that the defendant (the person allegedly at fault) acted negligently:

· Duty - The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff under the circumstances;

· Breach - The defendant breached that legal duty by acting or failing to act in a certain way;

· Causation - It was the defendant's actions (or inaction) that actually caused the plaintiff's injury; and

· Damages - The plaintiff was harmed or injured as a result of the defendant's actions. (From Findlaw.com)

3. Breach of contract.

A contract case usually comes before a judge because one or both parties claim that the contract was breached. A breach of contract is a failure, without legal excuse, to perform any promise that forms all or part of the contract. This includes failure to perform in a manner that meets the standards of the industry or the requirements of any express warranty or implied warranty, including the implied warranty of merchantability.

When a party claims a breach of contract, the judge must answer to the following questions:

1. Did a contract exist?

2. If so, what did the contract require of each of the parties?

3. Was the contract modified at any point?

4. Did the claimed breach of contract occur?

5. If so, was the breach material to the contract?

6. Does the breaching party have a legal defense to enforcement of the contract?

7. What damages were caused by the breach? (From UNM Judicial Education Enter)

4. Tortious or intentional interference with contractual relations.

Although the specific elements required to prove a claim of tortious interference vary from one jurisdiction to another, they typically include the following:

1. The existence of a contractual relationship or beneficial business relationship between two parties.

2. Knowledge of that relationship by a third party.

3. Intent of the third party to induce a party to the relationship to breach the relationship.

4. Lack of any privilege on the part of the third party to induce such a breach.

5. The contractual relationship is breached.

6. Damage to the party against whom the breach occurs. (From Wikipedia)