Negligence

Negligence is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.

Definition[edit | edit source]

According to Jay Feinman of the Rutgers University School of Law: "A person is negligent if he owes a duty to the victim, he breaches that duty, and the breach causes the victim to suffer an injury. The idea of negligence is that it is conduct, not an intention, that is the basis of liability."

Elements[edit | edit source]

Under common law, there are four necessary elements for a negligence action:

Duty: A duty is owed under circumstances recognized by law, requiring the actor to conform to a certain standard of conduct, for the protection of others against unreasonable risks.
Breach: A defendant is said to breach such a duty, if he or she did not conform to the required standard of conduct.
Causation: The defendant's negligent conduct must cause damage. Whether factual or proximate, causation must be established.
Damage: The plaintiff must have suffered damage as a result of the defendant's conduct.

Defenses[edit | edit source]

There are several common law defenses to a claim of negligence, including contributory negligence, comparative negligence, and assumption of risk.

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

Negligence at Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute

Negligence Resources
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