This section is from the book "The Law Of Quasi Contracts", by Frederic Campbell Woodward. Also available from Amazon: The Law of Quasi Contracts.
The phrase "waiver of tort," commonly used to denote the election of assumpsit, is unfortunate. It implies that the wrong is waived, which is both inaccurate and misleading. To speak of a suit in equity for the specific performance of a contract as a waiver of the breach would hardly be more objectionable. As is pointed out in the preceding section there is in reality an election between alternative obligations resulting from the commission of a tort - an obligation to pay such damages as the plaintiff has suffered, and an obligation to pay for such benefits as the defendant has received. Whichever obligation is chosen to be enforced, there can be no recovery without proof of the commission of a tort.
 
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