Claim for negligence

Negligence is a tort with four elements:

1. a duty of reasonable care
2. breach of that duty
3. causation
4. resulting damages

Plaintiff must prove all four of these elements to recover on a claim for negligence

Note: Courts also use negligence to stand for a failure to live up to the standard of care (element #2); to say that a def. is negligent can mean he/she failed to exercise reasonable care

Students often confuse the two - DON'T BE THAT STUDENT! - a tort of negligence needs the four elements and the concept of negligence has to do with the breach of the standard of due care. So, a person can be negligent without satisfying the requirements for a claim of negligence (for example, if no damages are a result of the breach)