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Negligence Overview
“Negligence” is a legal term referring to situations where an individual, a group, or an organization, failed to exercise due care in a situation that resulted in an injury or other damage. Negligence is a broad term that is used in a number of different legal situations, from personal injury to product liability.
Whether a person or company was negligent depends on the details of the situation, but there are several broad concepts that factor into most negligence claims, including;
- The “duty of care” that the defendant owed to the plaintiff
- The “breach” of that duty
- Injury or other damages caused by the breach of duty
Duty of Care
According to the University of New Mexico’s Judicial Education Center, people and other entities all owe a duty of care to others to act with “reasonable care to avoid causing injury to them or their property.”
Each entity’s duty of care will depend on the situation. Motorists owe a duty of care to others on the road to pay attention and drive carefully. Doctors have a duty to meet certain medical care standards when treating patients. Organizations have a duty to design and manufacture products that are safe for consumers.
Breach
Negligence, according to the National Paralegal College, can occur when an individual or organization breaches their duty of care. “Breach” occurs when there is a violation of duty or law.
Actions, or even inaction, can result in a breach of duty and a potential negligence claim. In some cases, an individual or organization may be legally required to act, however, in other cases, such as bystanders at an accident scene, there may be no obligation to do so.
Injury or Damages
The final, essential piece of a negligence claim is that the breach of duty must have caused injury or other damages. Damages include physical injuries and pain and suffering, as well as emotional and financial repercussions.
There are a wide variety of damages that may occur because of negligence. In certain cases, the plaintiff may have acted negligently in a way that contributed to their own injury. Called contributory or comparative negligence, each party’s contribution to this negligence will determine how damages are apportioned.
Negligence in Personal Injury
Personal injury lawsuits generally rely on the concept of negligence. The injured party in personal injury lawsuits usually must show that the party or parties they wish to hold accountable for their damages breached a duty of care.
Common personal injury lawsuits include slip and fall cases, car accidents, other vehicle accidents, and medical malpractice cases.
Product Liability and Negligence
Consumers who are harmed by a product and wish to hold the manufacturer, supplier, or other involved company responsible generally must do so by filing a product liability lawsuit. Product liability relies on the concepts of negligence by establishing that a company owes consumers a duty of care when it comes to designing, manufacturing, or releasing a product into the stream of commerce.
Companies can breach that duty of care by designing a product with flaws that makes it unsafe, manufacturing a product with defects, or otherwise introducing an unsafe product to consumers.
Common examples of negligence in product liability lawsuits include:
- Unsafe designs
- Use of inferior materials to make
- Poor or low-quality manufacturing
- Failure to warn about safety concerns of the product
