Legal Definitions - injury

In law, an injury is a broad term referring to any harm, damage, or wrong suffered by a person, their property, or their legal rights. This harm can result from another party's actions or failure to act, and it often provides grounds for seeking a legal remedy, such as financial compensation or a court order. While commonly understood as physical harm, a legal injury can also include financial losses, damage to reputation, emotional distress, or the violation of a fundamental right.

Here are some examples illustrating different types of legal injuries:

• Example 1: Physical Harm Due to Negligence

  A shopper slips on a wet floor in a grocery store that had no warning signs, resulting in a fractured wrist. The store management was aware of the spill but failed to clean it up or warn customers.

  This illustrates an injury because the shopper suffered physical harm (a fractured wrist) directly caused by the grocery store's negligence (failure to maintain a safe environment or warn of hazards). The law provides a remedy for such harm, allowing the shopper to seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

• Example 2: Financial and Property Harm Due to Breach of Contract

  A small business owner pays a web developer a significant upfront fee to create a new e-commerce website by a specific deadline. The developer fails to deliver any work, misses the deadline, and becomes unresponsive, causing the business to lose potential online sales.

  Here, the business owner suffered a financial injury (loss of the upfront payment and lost sales) and a property injury (failure to receive the promised website, which is a form of intellectual property). This harm resulted from the web developer's breach of their contractual obligations, for which the law offers remedies like suing for damages.

• Example 3: Reputational and Emotional Harm Due to Defamation

  During a heated local election, a candidate falsely publishes statements claiming their opponent misused campaign funds, leading to a significant drop in the opponent's public support and causing them severe emotional distress and damage to their professional standing.

  This scenario demonstrates an injury because the opponent suffered harm to their reputation and experienced emotional distress due to the false and damaging statements made by the other candidate. The law recognizes such defamation as a wrong that can be remedied, for instance, through a lawsuit seeking compensation for reputational damage and emotional suffering.