Best Assault & Battery Lawyers

Assault & Battery

What is Assault and Battery?

Assault and battery refers to a combination of two violent crimes including assault (a threat of violence) and battery (physical violence). Often conflated, the two acts, however, contain crucial nuances and thus essentially differ from each other. Basically, assault is when you threaten to harm someone, whether by words and/or manners while battery is when you go beyond threatening and physically harm that person. If you wave your fist at your friend and yell, “I’m going to kill you!,” for example, such mere behavior and threatening sentence of yours could be considered assault even if you barely touch your friend, and only when you actually apply force or hit him or her that you could be liable for battery. 

Because a threat is often followed by eventual physical harm, assault and battery are thus often conflated and referred to as a single act or in combination although it is worth mentioning that one can also commit a battery without assaulting a person or can assault someone without committing a battery.

How Can Assault & Battery Lawyers Help Individuals?

Lawyers specializing in assault and battery can help both victims of assault and battery and those who are accused of assault and battery navigate all the necessary legal processes. For victims, although an assault and battery charge is often subject to criminal liability and criminal proceedings, most of the time it can also lead to a civil lawsuit or a compensation claim as assault and battery can certainly cause severe damages and enormous costs.

For defendants or those who are charged with assault and battery, lawyers are important in both criminal and civil proceedings. Depending on each one’s scenario, you may be charged with assault and battery that leads to mere criminal liability and requires a lawyer to only guide you through such a process, or you may also face a civil lawsuit and need a lawyer to help you in that area as well.