No one deserves to be physically assaulted. Consulting with a knowledgeable Long Island assault lawyer in regards to a physical assault situation may be an important decision if you or a loved one experiences such tragic of an event.
An assault injury attorney may be able to guide a person or family in the wake of a physical assault. This may include an objective evaluation of the events in question, the injuries sustained, and the assailant’s potential civil and criminal liability.
Stephanie Ovadia has handled numerous assault and battery type cases over the course of her legal career in personal injury. This includes handling assault and battery type cases for people on Long Island, in New York City, and throughout the surrounding areas of New York State. She understands pain and suffering involved in this type of matter, especially the emotional impact such a tragic event can have on a person’s life.
Assault & Battery: An Overview
Assault and battery refers to two separate kinds of tortuous conduct. Assault, in the context of civil litigation, is a tort often described as when a person is intentionally placed in apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive bodily contacted to the point that the person has apprehension of such contact. Civil assault should not be misconstrued with criminal assault, which is a separate and distinct legal concept. Battery, on the other hand, is a tort often described as intentional bodily contact that was harmful or offensive and was without consent. Both are assault and battery are considered intentional torts.
An intentional tort is a category of tort that refers to wrongful conduct that is committed on purpose. This is as opposed to negligence, wherein the wrongful conduct may not have been on purpose, but was careless or reckless and liability should be imposed.
The difference between the tort of assault and the tort of battery is bodily contact. While assault refers to the threat and fear of bodily contact, battery refers to the physical act of bodily contact. In essence, getting hit could be a battery, but the fear of getting hit could be an assault. The two are often coupled together because one may fear the physical impact and then actually receive the physical impact.
Common scenarios where assault and battery type injury claims occur can be physical altercations, such as fights, domestic violence situations, school bullying incidents, and the occurrence of police brutality.