Negligence

Negligence is a fundamental legal concept in tort law that refers to the failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised under the same circumstances. This failure can result from either an action or an omission, but only if there was a duty to act in the first place.

To establish negligence in a legal context, several key elements must generally be proven:

• Duty: The defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff. This duty arises in various situations, such as a doctor’s duty to a patient or a driver’s duty to other road users.
• Breach: The defendant breached that duty by failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would have under similar circumstances.
• Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty was the direct cause of the plaintiff’s harm or injury.
• Damages: The plaintiff suffered actual harm or loss as a result of the defendant’s breach.

Negligence is most commonly used as the basis for civil lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries or losses caused by another’s carelessness. It is distinct from intentional or reckless conduct, as it involves a failure to meet the standard of reasonable care rather than a deliberate act.