There a number of ways in which a lawyer can frame a claim when a client is physically harmed by another.

Negligence

Where the injury is unintentional but caused through lack of care you might be able to bring a court case in “negligence”.

Battery

Where force is intentionally applied to another – like by a punch or kick – a claim for damages can be brought in a cause of action called “battery” provided the act was unlawful. I say “force” is intended because it is not necessary to show that the injury actually caused was intended.

Assault

Now imagine I was trying to hit you with a cricket bat. You stepped back to avoid my murderous blow and fell off a cliff and broke your leg. No claim in battery would arise because (despite my best endeavours) my cricket bat never made contact with your head.

This type of situation gives rise to a claim under a different cause of action called “assault”. This claim for damages does not require force to be applied merely that there was an immediate threat of an attack.

Sport – Volenti Non Fit Injuria

People often get injured playing sport. It is sometimes unavoidable. Indeed the danger is sometimes what makes a sport more exciting – both for participants and for the spectators. Sports would be a lot less exciting if everybody had to be clad in foam rubber for every game.

Some sports carry an inherent element of risk that you will either harm or be harmed. Boxing might be a good example. It would not be much of match if both participants spent each match cowering, fearful of thumping the other lest they be sued for assault or for battery.

The law recognises this in a defence called “volenti non fit injuria” – that is to say, where a risk is willingly assumed the courts will say any injury inflicted was one the party was content to accept and not one which gives rise to a cause of action. Thus injuries caused by a rugby tackle within the rules have been held rise to no recognisable claim against the player who caused them.

It's a Foul!

It would probably be otherwise if the injury was caused by a foul as this was not part of the level of risk the injured player implicitly agreed to assume when he started playing the game. Thus a golfer who mis-hit a ball from a tee and struck a player on an adjacent green was held liable for the injuries he caused; all he had to do, the court reasoned, was to wait until the claimant had finished putting.

Make Sure

Put shortly whilst the law does give you some protection from being sued when embarking on dangerous sports, it shouldn’t stop you from taking care about the safety of others or making sure that your insurance will cover your own risk of injury but will protect you from personal injury claims from others …. just in case something ever goes wrong and some hungry lawyer gets you in his sights.