Tort law is the body of  law concerned with civil harm of one against another. The law of torts includes three categories of civil wrongs: intentional torts where the actor intends to commit the harm, negligence where the actor commits a wrong by acting in an unreasonable way, and product liability where a manufacturer places an unsafe product into the market place. All torts have the common thread of causing injury. Lawyers are generally concerned with torts of negligence and product liability. This is because there is usually insurance coverage for negligent and product liability wrongs. Not so with intentional torts.

Civilized Freedom. In a civilized free society we should be able to do what we desire. We should be able to act freely. But civilized society involves others as well as the actor. In a civilized society the actor is limited in his actions when his actions harm another. Here freedom for one is harm to another and this is not tolerated in a civilized society. Thus, in a civilized society we are free to act up to the point our action harms another.  This is where tort law comes into play.

Tort Remedy. In tort the the remedy for causing harm to another is money compensation to the harmed person from the person causing the harm. The concept is the person harmed should be placed in the position he was before the harm. When the harm involves a personal injury this means the wrong doer pays the amount of money a jury determines fairly compensates the innocent harmed person.

Dual Purpose. Tort law protects society’s interests in freedom from harm, with the goal of restoring the person harmed to the position he or she was in prior to the defendant’s harmful conduct. Tort law focuses on protecting people and property by imposing a duty of reasonable care on others. An underlying purpose of tort law is to provide for public safety through deterrence of negligent acts. The concept has a dual purpose. First, provide fair compensation to the harmed person from the person who causes the harm. Second, provide for public safety by way of the deterrent effect of the connection between causing harm to another and having to pay for the harm.

Misconception. A misconception on tort law has emerged by way of the frivolous lawsuit myth. Pushed by insurance companies the myth is there is something wrong with seeking money compensation for harm caused by the wrongful act of another. Our nation has believed and fostered tort law from the beginning. Our constitution grants the right of jury trial with the idea that fellow citizens will hear the case and provide fairness. If the harm is real and the act causing the harm is a tort then there is nothing frivolous in seeking fair compensation. It is the civilized and proper thing to do. Our society is safer for all of us when fair compensation is properly provided in a tort lawsuit.

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Malcolm Gladwell, in What The Dog Saw (2009), discusses”Late Bloomers.” To Gladwell there are prodigies and there are late bloomers. We all know prodigies. In art a prodigy is Paublo Picasso. Late bloomers are known but not until they are old. This is because the late bloomer takes years to show his talent. Gladwell uses the example of Paul Cezanne who was not known as a great painter until old age.

In the practice of law we also have late bloomers. The traits of a late bloomer include: being well organized; being methodical; making mistakes; but, learning from mistakes. Let’s explore these traits to determine if we are a late blooming trial lawyer.

Well Organized. Do we take the time to organize our files? Do we know where to find documents? Do we have a case management system computerized or written where we have at our finger tips all information on client’s case? Are we organized  in any court appearance? If  yes to these questions, and we are not recognized as a legal prodigy then we may be a late bloomer.

Methodical. Late bloomers are also plodding. They are in no hurry. They know haste makes waste. They take the time to prepare by internalizing the facts and having the law researched. Little comes as a surprise because they have been there done that. If this is you you are looking more like a late bloomer.

Early Mistakes. Although we have had success we have had failures. Failure is seen when we start trying cases.  All phases of  jury trial present problems, and all  of the problems present opportunities to stumble. But we cannot be a late bloomer unless we make lots of mistakes.

Learning from Mistakes. The key to being a late bloomer is learning from mistakes. It is through mistakes that we grow as a late bloomer. Gladwell teaches late bloomers make tons of mistakes and they take years in making them. But they get better through their mistakes. The same is true as the late bloomer trial lawyer. In fact without the mistakes we have no hope of getting to the late bloomer level of accomplishment. The level where we are in the same light as the prodigy.

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