Damages Claims in the United States
Tort, Claims and Negligence
For a plaintiff to win a tort case, she must allege and prove that she was injured. The fear that she might be injured in the future is not a sufficient basis for a suit. This rule has proved troublesome in medical malpractice and industrial disease cases. A doctor’s negligent act or a company’s negligent exposure of a worker to some form of contamination might not become manifest in the body for years. In the meantime, the tort statute of limitations might have run out, barring the victim from suing at all. An increasing number of courts have eased the plaintiff’s predicament by ruling that the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the victim discovers that she has been injured or contracted a disease.
The law allows an exception to the general rule that damages must be shown when the plaintiff stands in danger of immediate injury from a hazardous activity. If you discover your neighbor experimenting with explosives in his basement, you could bring suit to enjoin him from further experimentation, even though he has not yet blown up his house—and yours. (1)
United States Constitution
According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, t least since marbury v. madison was decided in 1803, it has been understood that the United States Constitution is law, enforceable by courts and superior in status to legislation. In some surprising particulars, however, exactly what that means is far from clear.
Resources
Notes
- “Business and the Legal Environment”, by Don Mayer, Daniel M. Warner and George J. Siedel.
See Also
International Antitrust Litigation
Find more information on International Antitrust Litigation in relation to the Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Antitrust Disputes in the legal Encyclopedias.
Damages Claims and the International Trade Law
Resources
See Also
Further Reading
- Damages Claims entry in the Dictionary of International Trade Law (Raj Bhala)
- Damages Claims entry in the Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History (Thomas Carson; Mary Bonk)
- Damages Claims entry in the Dictionary of International Trade
- Damages Claims entry in the Dictionary of International Trade: Handbook of the Global Trade Community (Edward G. Hinkelman)
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