A tort is an act or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability. In the context of torts, "injury" describes the invasion of any legal right, whereas "harm" describes a...
THE LEGAL PROCESS
tortious
Tortious is a term describing behavior that constitutes a tort. Thus, tortious behavior is any behavior (other than breach of contract) that may be sued upon as a civil wrong.
[Last updated in June of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team...
totality of circumstances
Totality of circumstances is a method of analysis, or a test, in which a court or judge will consider balancing the circumstances and contributing factors of the situation rather than use a strict bright-line. Totality of the circumstances is...
toxic mold
Toxic mold is a term that is used to describe types of mold that are considered deadly to humans. Toxic mold encompasses hundreds of species of mold, a small fraction of which are not very harmful to the human body. Mold is a form of fungus...
toxic tort
A toxic tort is a subcategory of torts involving injuries to plaintiffs caused by toxic substances. Such cases are often brought under the doctrine of product liability. While toxic tort cases traditionally dealt with injuries arising from...
traffic stop
A traffic stop of a vehicle and detention of its occupants is a seizure for Fourth Amendment purposes. A routine traffic stop is justified if the police officer has a reasonable suspicion that the occupant is unlicensed or the vehicle is unregistered....
trafficking
Trafficking is the transporting of or transacting in illegal goods or people. See drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and human trafficking.
[Last updated in December of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]
transcarceration
Transcarceration is the transfer of prisoners or persons institutionalized for mental illness from one facility to another of the same type. Through transcarceration, prisoners are moved from one prison to another, and those institutionalized...
transcript
A transcript of a court record is the verbatim, official or certified record of all proceedings that transpired in the trial court. The transcript must also be taken by a court reporter.
Generally, a transcript is used in...
transferred intent
Transferred intent is used when a defendant intends to harm one victim, but then unintentionally harms a second victim instead. In this case, the defendant's intent transfers from the intended victim to the actual victim and can be used to...