General Duty of Care in Negligence

Question 1

The elements of a prima facie case of negligence are:

Answer 1

Duty of defendant to conform to a specific standard of conduct

A breach of the duty

Causation (actual and proximate)

Damages (harm)

Question 2

on negligence questions ask:

Answer 2

To whom do you owe a duty?

What is the applicable standard of care?

Question 3

Who is a duty of care owed to?

Answer 3

A duty of care is owed only to foreseeable plaintiffs - the class of persons who were foreseeably endangered by the defendant’s negligence conduct.

Question 4

What is the basic standard of care?

Answer 4

All persons owe a duty to behave with the same care as a hypothetical reasonably prudent person in the conduct of their activities to avoid injuring foreseeable victims.

Question 5

prima facie case for negligence requires plaintiff to show

Answer 5

(1) a duty that the defendant failed to conform to a specific standard of conduct for the protection of the plaintiff against an unreasonable risk of injury;
(2) breach of that duty by the defendant
(3) that the breach was the actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury; and
(4) damage to the plaintiff’s person or property.