
Negligence is one of the most important–if not the most important concept in personal injury law. It is like the foundation of a building: without it, you have nothing to claim. At its core, negligence occurs when an individual fails to exercise reasonable care, resulting in harm to another person.This failure can take many forms. It could be distracted driving or medical malpractice.
Let’s say you have a personal injury case. The fact that you do means you have proven the four required elements to establish negligence: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation and damages. This is a good place to define each term and understand what everything means.
Duty of care
The defendant had a legal obligation to act with a certain level of care toward the plaintiff. For example, drivers must adhere to traffic laws to protect themselves and others.
Breach of Duty
The Defendant breached this duty by acting, or failing to act, in a way that a reasonable person would not. For instance, a driver texting while driving is not exercising reasonable care.
Causation
The breach of that duty must be what directly caused the injury. Plaintiff must prove and show a clear link between the negligent action and the harm suffered.
Damages
The plaintiff must have suffered harm, or damages, medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering.
These elements come together to form negligence. Without any of these, it might be difficult to prevail in a case. However, you should speak to us about the details of your case. We have seen many individuals who could have recovered, go without because they did not think of everything or disclose everything to their attorney.