Breach of duty occurs when a person's actions or omissions fail to meet the legally required standard of care owed to another person. It's a key element in establishing negligence.
In more detail:
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Definition: A breach of duty happens when a defendant's conduct falls below the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise under similar circumstances. This means the defendant acted carelessly or negligently.
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Standard of Care: The "reasonable person" standard is an objective one. It doesn't ask what this particular defendant thought was reasonable, but rather what a hypothetical, ordinarily prudent person would have done in the same situation.
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Relationship to Negligence: Breach of duty is one of four essential elements that must be proven to establish a claim for negligence. The other three are:
- Duty of care (the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff)
- Causation (the defendant's breach caused the plaintiff's injury)
- Damages (the plaintiff suffered actual damages as a result of the injury)
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Examples:
- A driver speeding through a residential area and causing an accident breaches their duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians.
- A doctor failing to properly diagnose a patient's condition breaches their duty of care to that patient.
- A store owner failing to clean up a spill on the floor breaches their duty of care to customers.
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Establishing Breach: To prove a breach of duty, the plaintiff must present evidence demonstrating how the defendant's conduct deviated from the required standard of care. This often involves expert testimony or evidence of industry standards.
Essentially, breach of duty means failing to act with the appropriate level of care, resulting in a risk of harm to others.
