Published On: Wed, Sep 23rd, 2020

The Ultimate Guide to Business Tort Law

Business law is not something that most people are familiar with. And business tort law is something that even fewer people would be familiar with since it is doubtful that most people have ever heard of the term business tort. While most people do not need to know what that term means, anyone who is interested in starting up their own business should get familiar with it because it is very important.

In general, a business tort, aka an economic tort, is designed to protect business and trade in general. That is why it is important for any business owner to know at least the basics of business tort law. That is also why it is just as important that said owner also has a business litigation lawyer on standby in case they ever get involved in a business tort case. The business attorney will know what to do to protect their interests from anyone who tries to bring it down. If you live in the Orlando area and need the help of a business lawyer, then visit thefloridatriallawyer.com to get the assistance you need.

What is a Business Tort?

To answer this question it is better to know what a tort is in the first place. A tort is an act that causes harm, injury, suffering, or some kind of unfair loss to a person. Tort laws are meant to compensate the victims for any losses they suffered and to serve as a deterrent to the person responsible for harming the victim. Therefore business tort law is meant to protect a business from any harm that can come to it. Since a business is not a person, the kind of harm that can be inflicted on it is quite different from the harm that a human being would suffer.

Business Tort Categories

The following are the seven types of business torts.

Tortious Interference with Contract

This is when a third party intentionally damages or disrupts the ability of one of the other parties to fulfill their contractual obligations, which ends up hurting the other party financially. An example is if a person coerces a contractor not to deliver equipment that is vital to the running of someone’s business. There is also negligent tortious interference, which is when someone unintentionally causes harm to the relationship between a business and a contractor. An example would be if a driver accidentally causes a truck delivering vital equipment to crash and not make its delivery on time.

Tortious Interference with Business Relations

This is when someone tries to disrupt the business relations between two parties before a contract is formed. The intent is to prevent the business owner from establishing a relationship with a third party, which in turn could hurt the operation of said business. In order for this tort to be established, it must be proven that the relationship or contract would have occurred if it was not for the interference of that third party.

Injurious Falsehood

An injurious falsehood is when someone makes a false and malicious statement that is intended to damage or destroy the reputation of someone’s business.

Fraudulent Misrepresentation

This happens when someone intentionally deceives another party in order to secure an advantage of some sort or to harm another person’s business.

Negligent Misrepresentation

This tort is when someone induces another into a contract by making a false statement. This is not quite the same thing as fraudulent misrepresentation because the person making the statement may have genuinely believed that they were able to follow through on their promise. Negligent misrepresentation is more about a person overestimating their capabilities than intentionally misleading another party about those capabilities.

Unfair Competition

When competing businesses compete on unequal terms because one business has an unfair advantage and/or the other business has an unfair disadvantage.Unfair competition can also occur when the actions of one of the competitors prevents another business from competing on a level playing field.

Conspiracy

This is when two or more parties agree to hurt the business of another via deceptive practices. This agreement does not have to be written down, it can be made orally or it can just be implied. It is also not necessary that the conspiracy be successful, just that the parties agreed to the plan to hurt the business of another. In fact, if the conspiracy succeeds, then the conspiracy charges may be dropped and the defendants will be charged with the results of their conspiracy.

Get a Lawyer to Help You With Any Business Torts

There are a lot of business torts to which a business can fall victim, but fortunately there are many protections in place to safeguard businesses against those who would do it harm. An experienced corporate lawyer will know all about business tort law and will use that knowledge to protect your business from harm. So make sure that you have a corporate lawyer to protect your interests. 

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