Four Elements of Negligence: The Legal Definition of Wrongful Death

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Negligence is a legal concept that applies when you&&num;8217&semi;re trying to prove not only that someone is at fault for an action but also that their action was outside of normal behavior&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The theory exists to set a standard for legal action&period; It prevents people from suing and winning when a death occurs as a result of a genuine&comma; unpreventable accident or error&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">To determine whether someone is negligent&comma; the court requires the plaintiff to prove four elements of negligence&period; Here&&num;8217&semi;s what each element involves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Legal Duty of Care<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In order to sue for either a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;filing-wrongful-death-lawsuit&sol;">wrongful death<&sol;a> or a personal injury&comma; you first must prove that defendant owed the injury or deceased party a &&num;8220&semi;legal duty of care&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Legal duty of care can be codified through law&comma; such as the duty a doctor owes a patient to provide them with medical care&period; It can also apply more generally&period; For example&comma; you owe all other drivers and pedestrians a legal duty of care to drive safely &lpar;i&period;e&period;&comma; within the bounds of traffic laws&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you can&&num;8217&semi;t provide the first of the four elements of negligence&comma; then you don&&num;8217&semi;t have a case&period; All the other elements rely on this first rule&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Breach of Duty<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When you establish a legal duty of care&comma; you must then prove that the defendant violated their duty&period; The violation can be action or inaction&comma; and it must fall under the category of something a &&num;8220&semi;reasonably prudent person&&num;8221&semi; or an average person would avoid in the same circumstances&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In other words&comma; in <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;sweetjames&period;com&sol;wrongful-death&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">wrongful death claims<&sol;a> associated with medicine&comma; you must prove that the care provider&&num;8217&semi;s actions wouldn&&num;8217&semi;t be considered by other medical professionals <strong>and<&sol;strong> that the care provider knew someone could be injured&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Breach of duty may be proved by special or expert witnesses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Causation<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">With a breach of duty proven&comma; you then must demonstrate that the injury or death occurred <strong>because<&sol;strong> of the breach of duty&period; In other words&comma; the defendant can only be liable for the injuries they could have foreseen&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;lawteacher&period;net&sol;modules&sol;tort-law&sol;causation-and-remoteness&sol;causation&sol;lecture&period;php" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">To prove causation<&sol;a>&comma; there must be a direct link between the action&sol;inaction and the injury&period; A helpful description comes from <em>Cork v Kirby MacLean ltd &lbrack;1952&rsqb;&period;<&sol;em> If the injury would not have happened but for the specific breach of duty&comma; then the breach of duty is the cause of the damage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In cases where other factors contributed&comma; courts use a balance of probabilities&period; If the defendant is at least 51&percnt; at fault&comma; then they are held responsible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Damages<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Damages include the actual harm caused by the injury&period; It usually includes physical or actual damages&comma; like the costs of medical bills or loss of income&period; However&comma; it can also include pain and suffering damages&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">An attorney calculates the damages according to a formula and then presents the number to the court&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>All Four Elements of Negligence Must Exist<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">An accident or mistake doesn&&num;8217&semi;t necessarily make a person legally negligent&period; For negligence to exist&comma; the plaintiff must prove all four elements of negligence apply to the case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Without duty of care&comma; breach of duty&comma; causation&comma; and damages&comma; you can&&num;8217&semi;t prove a party was legally negligent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Did you find this article helpful&quest; You can learn more in our Law archive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;