Negligence The Common Theory in Most Injury Lawsuits
Negligence is a legal term that roughly means carelessness. It is the underlying legal theory which is applied in motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall accidents, construction accidents, boating accidents, cruise ship accidents, commercial fishing accidents, and other forms of injury arising on shore and at sea. It is the common denominator for most injury lawsuits.
To move forward with a case based on the legal theory of negligence, one must show four elements:
▪ Defendant owed a duty to plaintiff
▪ Defendant breached that duty
▪ Plaintiff suffered harm (injuries or other damages) as a result of this breach
▪ Causation (or connection) between the breach of duty and injury. Defendant's breach was the proximate cause of plaintiff's harm.
Breaching the duty could be through an affirmative act. It could also be through the OMISSION of an act. It's necessary that the harm suffered by the plaintiff be a foreseeable result of defendant's action or omission. Another way to describe negligence is to fail to act in a manner than a reasonably prudent person would have acted under such circumstances.
To move forward with a case based on the legal theory of negligence, one must show four elements:
▪ Defendant owed a duty to plaintiff
▪ Defendant breached that duty
▪ Plaintiff suffered harm (injuries or other damages) as a result of this breach
▪ Causation (or connection) between the breach of duty and injury. Defendant's breach was the proximate cause of plaintiff's harm.
Breaching the duty could be through an affirmative act. It could also be through the OMISSION of an act. It's necessary that the harm suffered by the plaintiff be a foreseeable result of defendant's action or omission. Another way to describe negligence is to fail to act in a manner than a reasonably prudent person would have acted under such circumstances.