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What is tortious interference?

On Behalf of | Apr 3, 2023 | Civil Litigation

Tortious interference occurs when a third party interferes in a relationship between two other parties. It often happens in business when someone causes someone else to break a contract.

There are some key points to showing tortious interference occurred, but if you can prove it happened, you may have a civil claim against the instigator.

Requires intent

You have the burden to prove your case in court, and one element required to do that is to show the person acted with intent to deprive you of the benefits of the contract. You must show that the third party meant to act in a way that would interfere with your contract and cause you financial damages.

Must have loss

You also must show that the third party’s action led to some type of loss for you. It should be a measurable loss that you can easily show directly relates to what the third party and the interference with the contract agreement.

Needs a contract

To show tortious interference, you will have to provide the contract involved in the matter. You have to show it was a valid agreement and that interference caused the second party to be unable to fulfill the obligations required under that contract.

When showing that tortious interference occurred, you need to be able to prove to the court through evidence that the third party willfully injected him or herself into your contract in a way that prevented the second party from carrying out his or her responsibilities under the agreement. The burden lies on you to present evidence that will sway the court to believe your claims.

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