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What is the definition of negligence in law?

Negligence is typically associated with carelessness, but the term also has a more precise legal definition. It is the failure on the part of a tortfeasor — someone who has committed a tort, or civil wrong — to exercise a reasonable amount of care, which in turn has caused a foreseeable injury to another person or that person’s property.

In order for a plaintiff to establish negligence in a personal injury case, all four of the following elements must be proven to exist: the tortfeasor had a duty of care toward the injured party; there was a breach of the duty by the tortfeasor; there was a causation of injury to the victim; and there were damages, or actual harm, suffered by the victim.

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The highly competent lawyers at Petrillo and Goldberg represent clients with personal injury claims, workers compensation claims, slip-and-fall cases and automobile accident victims. We work for you, and take our job of getting the best possible results for you seriously.

Scott M. Goldberg

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Steven Petrillo

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