What are the essential elements of a negligence claim?

In a negligence claim, the essential elements are duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Duty refers to the legal obligation that a person has to conform to a standard of conduct for the protection of others against unreasonable risks. In a negligence case, this means the defendant had a responsibility to act in a certain way to ensure the safety of others.

Breach occurs when the defendant fails to meet that standard of care, meaning they did not act as a reasonably prudent person would have in similar circumstances. This can be through acts of omission or commission.

Causation is the link between the breach of duty and the harm caused; it establishes that the defendant's actions (or lack thereof) directly led to the injury. There are two parts to causation: cause-in-fact (whether the harm would have occurred but for the defendant's actions) and proximate cause (whether the harm was a foreseeable result of the defendant's actions).

Finally, damages refer to the actual losses suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the defendant's breach of duty. This can include physical harm, financial loss, emotional distress, and other quantifiable losses.

These four elements are critical to establishing a successful negligence claim. If any of these elements are missing