The Basics of Negligence

The negligence claim is the bread and butter of almost every personal injury claim. The doctrine of negligence is based on the concept that all members of society have a duty to other members of society to not subject them to unnecessary risk. When you engage in an activity that does subject others to unnecessary risk, you have a duty of care to others to reasonably minimize that risk, and if you fail to do so, you may be liable for negligence. There are four basic criteria of a negligence claim:

• A duty of care must exist. As indicated above, a duty of care exists when one engages in an activity that subjects others to unnecessary risk. As a member of society, you have a duty to minimize that risk to others.
• That duty must be breached. The duty that is present must actually be breached. In effect, you must be engaging in negligent behavior.
• The breach must be the actual and legal cause of the injury. Simply breaching a duty of care is insufficient; the injury that results must be a direct result of that breach. If you are behaving negligently and someone is injured for reasons unrelated to your negligence, you would likely not be considered liable.
• The injury must result in damage. Finally, the injury suffered must result in actual damages. In most cases, the plaintiff must prove that some damage, physical, economic, or otherwise, has occurred.

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This article is not intended to serve as, or as a replacement for, legal advice. If you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, contact the Philadelphia personal injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130.