LAW 122 Chapter 6: LAW122 Chapter 6 Notes.docx
13 Mar 2012
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A tort of negligence determines whether the defendant can be held liable for carelessly causing injury to the plaintiff. Requires the plaintiff to prove that the defendant: a duty of care, in that it was required to act carefully toward the plaintiff, breached the standard of care by acting carelessly, caused harm to the plaintiff. A duty of care exists if the defendant is required to use reasonable care to avoid injuring the plaintiff (ex: a woman and her unborn child or a manufacturer to a consumer) Without a duty of care, there cannot be liability, even if the defendant carelessly injured the plaintiff. Judges whether or not a reasonable person in the defendant position would have recognized that possibility. It would be unfair to hold the defendant liable for ever injury that it creates, even those that were unforeseeable.
