Negligence – What is it?

Negligence mainly comes into play when it seems that the party that caused the injury owed a duty to the injured party and in turn had breached that duty. Fro example: all drivers owe a general duty to other drivers to operate their cars in safe manners, such as following the speed limit, not texting while driving, adhering to traffic signs, etc. Therefore, if you get into a car accident with someone because they ran a red light or a stop sign, then the other driver may be held liable due to his negligence.

There are many different situations in which a negligence action may come up: a car accident because someone ran a red light or was on their phone; an injury on someone else’s property due to lack of maintenance; an operation on the wrong patient or wrong body party because the doctor misread the chart; a bite from a dog that the owner knows is dangerous but let him mingle around people regardless; etc. In all these examples there may have been a breach of a duty owed to the injured party, therefore giving cause to a negligent action.

If you are in one of these or a similar situation, you should contact an experience personal injury attorney, as simply proving that the other party owed a duty to the injured party is not enough. Having the experience of an attorney to aid you will ensure that you properly argue all the requirements necessary in successfully proving a negligence claim. An attorney can help you establish the necessary elements: (1) the duty owed, (2) the breach of the duty, (3) the breach being a proximate or legal cause of the injury; an attorney can further help you navigate and argue against the defenses to negligence that the other party may bring up such as contributory negligence, comparative negligence and assumption of risk.

All in all, having an attorney in your corner can make the different in whether you can successfully establish a negligence claim and maximize your reward.