Negligence

The tort of harm caused by failure to exercise reasonable care

Overview

Modern negligence analysis asks whether the defendant owed the injured person a duty of care, whether conduct fell below the standard of a reasonable person, and whether the breach caused the harm actually and proximately. The reasonable person standard is objective, measuring conduct rather than character, and professionals are held to the standard of their profession. From its birth in industrial era railways to today's medical and product cases, negligence is the workhorse of civil liability across the common law world.