Business Torts

For small business owners, success often comes from hard work, dedication, and risk-taking. While managing and running a business, you may encounter legal challenges that disrupt business. One area of law that small business owners should be familiar with is tort law. Tort law deals with legal wrongs or injuries caused to individuals or their property. Tort cases provide a way to seek compensation for the harm suffered.

Tort law and business law often overlap when business-related incidents become civil cases. Business torts can be big problems for small business owners. They might cause them to lose money, damage their reputation, and even lead to legal matters.

What Are Business Torts?

Business torts, sometimes called economic torts, are wrongful acts that hurt a business or its assets, usually by causing financial loss or damage to reputation. Unlike criminal offenses, these torts are typically civil lawsuits. Individuals, other businesses, or even employees within a company can commit a business tort.

Suppose your business entity suffers financial harm due to the actions of an individual or another business. You can file a lawsuit in civil court to seek monetary damages. Sometimes, the court may also order the defendant to stop their unlawful activities.

Common Business Tort Claims

Below are some common types of business torts:

• Tortious interference happens when someone causes trouble between two parties who had a deal or a relationship. This meddling can lead to financial harm for one or both parties and can result in a legal case.

• Restraint of trade are actions that make it harder for a business to operate like usual. It could be because of unfair limits or rules that stop the business from doing what it needs to grow. Some restraints of trade, like non-compete clauses, are valid when deemed reasonable in scope.

• Theft of trade secrets happens when someone steals confidential and valuable information from your business. This stolen information could be about your special processes, techniques, or ideas. Theft of trade secrets can harm the competitiveness of your business. This is also called trade secret misappropriation.

• Fraudulent misrepresentation happens when someone lies on purpose to trick you into doing something, such as making a bad deal or buying something you don't need. If someone lies to you on a significant part of the deal and it causes you financial harm, you may have a civil action.

• Breach of contract is when someone fails to fulfill their part of a contract.

• Breach of fiduciary duty is the violation of the responsibility to act in the business's best interests. If your business is a partnership, this includes your partners as well.

• Trade libel involves making false or malicious statements about a business's products or services. Typically, these statements are made to harm the business's reputation or cause financial loss. This is also known as commercial or business disparagement. Unlike defamation, trade libel pertains to false statements about a business's goods or services.

How Do I Protect My Small Business?

• Maintain Transparent Business Practices: Ensure that all your dealings are transparent and ethical. Accurate representation of products and services is crucial to avoid fraud claims.

• Use Written Contracts: Use written contracts to establish agreements with customers, suppliers, and other businesses. Make sure these agreements clearly outline the terms and conditions. Be sure to include clauses to address breaches or disputes.

• Safeguard Intellectual Property: Protect trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets through appropriate legal means. This can help prevent unfair competition and theft of valuable business assets.

• Get Insurance Coverage: Insurance coverage can protect you and your business. Insurance provides a safety net for:
  • Covering expenses for property damage
  • Lawsuits
  • Employee injuries
  • Other unforeseen events or unlawful acts

• Use Safety Protocols: If you sell physical product or provide services, make sure you have safety rules in place. These rules are like steps to avoid accidents and keep customers and employees from getting hurt.

• Train Employees: Educate your employees on the importance of ethical business practices. Create a culture of compliance and integrity.

Remedies for Business Torts

There are several remedies available for business torts. Some common remedies include:

• Money: You can ask the person who caused the harm to pay you money to make up for the economic losses you suffered.
• Stop the Harm: You can ask the court to issue an injunction to stop them from doing the negative things that are hurting your business.
• Contracts: If there was a contract involved, the court can order the person to fulfill their promises or pay you if they broke the contract.

Seek Legal Advice for Your Business

Business disputes can be really confusing. Figuring out how much money you lost can be tricky because it often involves guessing. While courts usually accept reasonable estimates of the loss, you might want to bring in a professional to help you. If you have a problem, a business litigation attorney can help you figure out how much money you lost in a reasonable way. Having a business tort attorney on your side can help make a strong plan to protect your business.