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.