Intentional Torts vs. Negligence: Different Approaches to Personal Injury

When you get hurt because of what someone else did, your world can feel like it’s been turned upside down. Figuring out your next steps here in Morgantown can be tough, especially when you’re in pain. You might be worried about the growing stack of medical bills from Mon Health or WVU Medicine, the time you’re losing from work, and how you’re going to support your family.

At Desai Law, our team knows you are under a lot of stress, and we are here to help our neighbors in West Virginia and Pennsylvania turn tragedy into triumph. As your Morgantown personal injury lawyer, we want to clearly explain the two main ways the law looks at injury cases: one where someone was careless and another where they hurt you on purpose.

Understanding this difference is a key first step. It affects how we build your case, the kind of evidence we need to gather, and what it takes to get you the money you deserve.

Careless Accidents in Morgantown: What is Negligence?

Most injury cases we see, from a car accident on Don Knotts Boulevard to a slip and fall at a downtown shop, happen because someone was not paying enough attention or wasn’t careful enough. The legal word for this is “negligence.” This does not mean the person woke up in the morning wanting to hurt someone. It simply means they had a responsibility to act safely and they failed to do so, causing you to get injured as a result.

To get you the help you need after a careless act, our team works to prove four specific things to the insurance company or a jury.

A Duty Was Owed

This means the other person had a legal job to act with reasonable care. This is the first question the law asks in a negligence case, a principle West Virginia’s courts have often pointed out.

This duty is all around us. A driver on Patteson Drive has a duty to stop at red lights and watch for people walking. A store owner at Suncrest Towne Centre has a duty to keep their floors dry and safe. We first establish that this basic responsibility existed.

The Duty Was Breached

This is the part where we show the person failed in their duty. It’s the mistake or the careless action.

For example, the driver who was texting instead of watching the road breached their duty. The store manager who knew about a spill but didn’t put up a “wet floor” sign for an hour breached their duty. We use evidence to pinpoint this specific failure.

The Breach Caused Your Injury

This is a direct link. We must clearly show that their failure is the reason you got hurt. This is often called “causation.” The goal is to draw a straight line from their mistake to your injury, showing that if they had been careful, you would not be hurt today.

You Suffered Real Damages

Finally, we must show the harm you have suffered can be measured. Damages include your hospital bills, the cost of physical therapy, your lost paychecks from being unable to work, and the cost of future medical care you might need.

It also includes non-economic things, like the daily pain, emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment in life you’ve experienced since the accident. We work to calculate every single loss so you can be made whole again.

How Does West Virginia’s “Fault” Rule Affect My Claim?

This is a question we get a lot. People worry that if they were even a tiny bit at fault, they can’t get any help. In West Virginia, that’s not necessarily true. The state has a law for this called “modified comparative fault,” which comes directly from the state code.

This law means you might still be able to get money for your injuries even if you were a small part of the reason the accident happened. Here’s a simple example: Imagine your total damages are $100,000. If a jury decides you were 10% at fault, you could still receive $90,000.

However, the law has a strict cutoff. If the jury decides you were 50% or more at fault, you cannot recover anything. This is why it’s so important to have a legal team that can effectively argue your case.

When an Injury in Morgantown is Not an Accident: Intentional Torts

While most cases involve carelessness, some injuries are caused by someone acting on purpose. An “intentional tort” is the legal term for when someone hurts you deliberately. This is not a mistake; it is a choice they made. This makes the case very different.

Some common examples of this that we see include:

• Battery: This is when someone intentionally causes harmful or offensive physical contact with you. A punch thrown in a fight outside a downtown bar is a clear example of battery.
• Assault: This is slightly different from battery. Assault is when someone intentionally makes you fear that you are about to be harmed. Shaking a fist in your face or acting like you’re about to be hit can be assault, even if they never actually touch you.

In these cases, the harm isn’t always physical. West Virginia law recognizes that being the victim of an intentional act can cause serious emotional distress. In certain situations, you may be able to get help for this emotional harm even if you don’t have a visible physical injury.

Why Choose a Local Morgantown Lawyer to Fight for You?

No matter how you were injured, you need someone who is ready to stand up and fight for you. Big insurance companies have teams of adjusters and lawyers whose job is to protect their profits by paying you as little as possible. That is not right. At Desai Law, our team is passionate about standing up for the underdog. Our firm was founded with one mission: to help people who have been wronged.

Whether you were in a truck accident on I-79, injured by a drunk driver after a Mountaineer game, or were the victim of a purposeful act, our team will listen to your story and give your case the focused attention it deserves. We know Morgantown. We know the local court systems in Monongalia County. We know the roads, the businesses, and the challenges our neighbors face. This local knowledge helps us build a stronger, more relatable case for you.

We help people right here in Morgantown and across West Virginia and Pennsylvania get the money they need to rebuild their lives, and we believe everyone deserves that chance. This is why we handle cases without any upfront cost to you. Our team only gets paid if we win your case.

Get Help From Your Morgantown Injury Team

Dealing with an injury is hard enough. You should not have to worry about fighting a legal battle by yourself while you are trying to heal. Our team is here to take that weight off your shoulders so you can focus on what matters most: getting better. We are proud to help our neighbors when they need it most.

If you have been hurt, you have a right to ask for help and to understand your options. Call our office for a free, no-pressure consultation to talk about what happened. Let us help you take the first step forward on the path to recovery. To get in touch with our team, please visit our contact page.