In some instances, a singular event leading to injury is what prompts the injured to take legal action via a personal injury claim. However, these cases are never the same, and some involve continuous harm that lasts weeks, months or years, leading to emotional distress, continuous harm, and loss of quality of life for the injured party. This is known as continuous tort, or a form of injury that is due to the cumulative acts of negligence perpetrated by the defendant.

What Is a Continuous Tort Claim?

For instance, you may discover that your neighbor’s huge oak tree has been systematically eroding your property’s foundation, or that the severe cough and neurological issues you have been experiencing has been due to the clandestine, ongoing dumping of toxic chemicals by a large corporation just a hundred or so yards from your home. The dangerous thing about these kinds of injuries or torts is that they are insidious and oftentimes, you do not notice them until a significant amount of damage is done.

These ongoing harms constitute a viable legal claim that can help you get the justice and compensation you deserve, but only if you work with an experienced injury attorney such as one of our team members at McCready Law best injury lawyers.

We will examine the nature of continuing torts and show how they differ from discrete, one-time events as well as how we strategically approach them in order to ensure you get compensation and closure. Read on to find out more.

Why Work With McCready Law for Ongoing Injury Cases

If you’re looking for the best injury lawyer, call us NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about your legal options for justice and compensation. The experienced injury attorneys at McCready Law bring to the table over 90 YEARS of combined legal experience where we’ve helped tens of thousands of injured Americans from all over the country recover compensation after getting injured on account of the negligence of other individuals or large corporations.

Over the decades, we have been able to successfully recover over $260 million and counting for our clients with some of these judgments or settlements ranging in the hundreds of thousands and even millions for cases that involve catastrophic injury or wrongful death.

No Upfront Fees – We Only Win If You Win

Our success can be attributed to a number of factors such as the fact that our lawyers personally handle all claims and we do not shunt them over to paralegals or legal assistants as is common in most law firms, a practice that can jeopardize the outcome of a case. We also engage highly experienced and renowned experts in the forensic science, investigative, medical and accounting fields to ensure that your injuries are objectively documented and that causation is demonstrated, negligence proved and your injuries are quantified by way of damages.

We run a bilingual firm (hablamos Espanol), and we have nationwide reach thanks to our vast network of trusted referral attorneys. Lastly, we take on all cases on contingency fee basis, which simply means that there are ZERO UPFRONT FEES for the duration of the processing of your claim, as we only levy our fees at the end of the suit, and only if we’ve recovered compensation on your behalf.

If you or a loved one got injured by someone you know in your family or friend circle, please give us a call NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about your legal options for justice and compensation. Our intake team is standing by.

What is a Continuing Tort in Personal Injury Law?

A continuing tort is an action that leads to harm or injury when said action, omission or condition persists over a period of time, leading to repeated damage or ongoing injury, as compared to a single or isolated event. A continuing tort is differentiated by the duration and recurrence of the harm, while the negligent act may have happened on a specific date, the tort itself is said to continue as long as the wrongful condition persists, causing damage or ongoing injury.

In order for act to be classified as a continuing tort, the following must be present:

1. There must be ongoing wrongful conduct or an ongoing condition that causes harm and not a single event, invading on your rights or causing persistent harm
2. There must be repeated or cumulative harm or damage or the harm recurs repeatedly with each instance of the wrongful conduct or condition.
3. The defendant has the ability to stop the wrongful conduct or condition but chooses not to or negligently omits action
4. The statute of limitations must not begin until the tortious conduct ceases, as it may renew with each instance of new harm.

Here are some of the most common examples of continuous torts:

1. A neighboring factory or industrial plant which continuously emits excessive noise, noxious and toxic fumes or whose unaddressed drainage leads to constant flooding or health issues, reduced property value, and even structural damage
2. Failure to abate a known hazard resulting in repeated injuries such as in the case where a property owner or municipality fails to fix cracked sidewalk or a faulty door leading to people tripping and falling or getting caught in the door and suffering injuries
3. A defective product such as a knee implant or heart stent slowly malfunctioning over a number of months or years leading to chronic inflammation, long-term pain and secondary health complications.

How We Handle and Resolve Continuing Tort Claims as a Law Firm

Continuing tort claims tend to be more complex than one-off incidents causing injuries. It is important that these cases are approached with a meticulous attention to detail, something that we as a law firm excel at. For starters, we shall build a detailed timeline of the ongoing wrongful conduct or condition via the collection of records, neighbor reports, personal journals, official reports and maintenance logs. We shall then rely on experts to provide testimony on the continuous nature of the nuisance, exposure or trespass.

One of the most crucial parts of this type of claim is linking cause to cumulative effect: for instance, if your health was negatively impacted by the continuing tort, we shall gather medical histories that show the gradual onset as well as worsening of your health, showing a connection with the ongoing exposure. In case the tort caused property damage such as a neighbor’s or commercial building’s installation or factory-related activities, we shall work with appraisers, contractors and engineers to document the progressive damage over a period of time.

We will also show that the defendant knew or should have known about the continuing wrongful condition via inspections or prior complaints but failed to abate it, establishing ongoing breach of duty.

Best National Injury Attorneys – Call Us Today!

It is important to understand that you still have rights even when the injurious agent or property damage is ongoing and cumulative. To this end, we would like to ask that you give us a call NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about how we can help you recover compensation during this difficult time. We take on cases nationwide, so feel free to reach out wherever you are in the country.

The call is 100% FREE, and there is no legal obligation. Thanks for choosing McCready Law, and we look forward to helping you.