Elements of negligence

■■ Duty to care: The legal obligation or obligatory conduct owed by one person to another.

The standard of care is the conduct expected of an individual in a given situation.

■■ Breach of duty: The failure to meet a prevailing standard of care.

■■ Injury: Without proof of harm or injury, a defendant cannot be found liable for negligence.

■■ Causation: The defendant’s negligence must be a substantial factor in having caused injury.

■■ Foreseeability: The reasonable anticipation that harm or injury will result from an act or a failure to act.

■■ Test for foreseeability: Whether one should have reasonably anticipated that the event in question or a similar event would occur.