trespass on the case
Noun: 1. A historical form of legal action: "Trespass on the case" (often shortened to "action on the case" or simply "case") was a common law writ used to recover damages for a wrongful act that resulted in indirect or consequential injury or loss, where the direct force or trespass requirement for standard "trespass" was not met.
This term is used exclusively in historical and legal contexts to describe a specific, now largely obsolete, category of lawsuit. It is a key concept in understanding the development of modern tort law. * The legal evolution from "trespass" to trespass on the case allowed plaintiffs to seek redress for harms that were not direct physical violations. * Scholars note that trespass on the case was the procedural vehicle that eventually led to the modern tort of negligence.
- In medieval English law, if a person was injured by a log thrown into the road, a direct trespass suit was appropriate. However, if a person later stumbled over that same log and was injured, their remedy was an action for trespass on the case.
- The court allowed the action for trespass on the case to proceed because the plaintiff's financial loss, though real, was an indirect result of the defendant's fraudulent statement.
- "Action on the case": This is the more common shortened form of the full term "trespass on the case."
- The principle underlying trespass on the case is that liability can arise from the consequences of an act, not just the act itself. This foundational idea is central to much of contemporary contract and tort law.
- Trespass (n.): The older, more direct form of action for injury involving immediate force or direct interference.
- Case (n.): In this specific legal context, a shortened form referring to "trespass on the case."
- Tort (n.): The modern category of civil wrongs, which evolved from actions like trespass and trespass on the case.
- Action on the case (n.): The direct synonym and abbreviated form.
- Indirect trespass (n.): A descriptive synonym highlighting the key distinction from direct trespass.
- To maintain an action on the case: The formal phrase meaning to have the legal right to bring such a lawsuit.
- The plaintiff could maintain an action on the case for the economic damages caused by the defendant's negligence.
- an action brought to recover damages from a person whose actions have resulted indirectly in injury or loss
- a person struck by a log as it was thrown onto a road could maintain trespass against the thrower but one who was hurt by stumbling over it could maintain and action on the case