Negligent Tort Case Study

Introduction

The law of torts can be traced back to English Common Law and has become and integral part of Anglo-American Law for hundreds of years .These laws have been modified many times since the late 1800's by state legislatures and these changes have given plaintiffs more chance of success when bringing forth their claims. Original tort law included coverage for injuries suffered while in the workplace but this since has been removed entirely from tort law and replaced with the state administered workers compensation systems. In order for a plaintiff to utilize the law of torts certain elements need to be present so that a reasonable measure of success can be ensured in the outcome.

Elements of Negligent Tort

Negligence is the omission to do something, which a reasonable man, guided upon those considerations which regulate the conduct of human affairs would do or doing something, which a prudent, and reasonable, man would not do’ The essential elements of negligent tort are 1) Duty of reasonable care, 2) Breach of duty of care, 3) Breach was actual, and proximate cause of injury .Tort is what is in the tort books but only thing holding it together is their binding’, hence to win a negligence case, plaintiff must prove each of three elements.

Duty of reasonable care:

According to Negligence law, normally members of society should behave in ways that avoid the creation of unreasonable risks of harms to others. The standard for assessing such conduct is called µreasonable care standard and in most cases the duty to exercise reasonable care, serves as the relevant duty for the purpose of a negligence claim’s first element .

Breach of duty:

This is the second element of negligent tort, which requires plaintiff to establish...

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...uences of his action. While in some negligent cases, the fact that the plaintiff was injured, seems unusual or remote from the defendant’s breach, despite the existence of an actual causation link, hence presence or absence of proximate cause becomes a serious contested issue and depends on how narrowly or broadly the court defines the scope of what is natural and probable.

Conclusion

Duty of reasonable care, breach of duty of care, and breach was actual and proximate cause of injury, are three essential elements of negligent tort, and to win the case, one must prove each of three elements of this tort. The beauty of tort law is that it retains an inherent flexibility responsive to societal developments and new technologies but still courts addresses the essential, and fundamental issues, of duty, breach of duty, causation and damages to prove negligent tort cases.