LAW 122 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Contributory Negligence
15 Jan 2012
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Document Summary
Negligence, in non-legal terms: carelessness. in the legal term it is much the same: torts of negligence: determines whether the defendant can be held liable for carelessly causing the plaintiff to suffer a loss or injury. The tort of negligence requires the plaintiff to prove that the defendant: Owed a duty of care, in that it was required to act carefully toward the plaintiff. Breached the standard of care by acting carelessly. Even if the plaintiff proves those 3 elements, the defendant may be able to avoid liability by proving a defence. The defendant may show that at least one of these defences existed: The plaintiff injury was caused by it owns contributory negligence. The plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risk of being injured by the defendant. The plaintiff was injured while engaged in some form of illegal behaviour: Professional negligence simply refers to negligence that is committed by a professional person (i. e. a lawyer, banker etc. )
