Anatomy Of An Intentional Tort

This is one of those foundational things, but grasping sort of the “anatomy” of an intentional tort can help you do a few things pretty well, especially when it’s testing time.

First, understanding what intentional torts are made of allows you to restructure a rule when the exam comes, even if you can’t perfectly remember all the elements.

Basically, intentional torts have to be volitional, they have to be intentional, and they have to satisfy a harm requirement. (So that’s V - I - H).

Once you get volition out of the way (which is usually pretty quick and easy), you can start thinking and writing about intent, and then you can see if the specific tort’s harm requirement is met.

Check out the short podcast-style audio lesson (above). It will help you solidify these concepts by testing the “V-I-H” framework with the tort of battery. After that, you can apply it throughout intentional tort land (with a few exceptions of course).