Negligence is a common legal theory used to determine a personal injury case. Typically, a court determines whether a plaintiff is due compensation for damages based on negligence.
New York law states that compensation for damages may be diminished based on contributory negligence. This means that if the court finds that the plaintiff shares in the responsibility for their personal injury, their compensation may be lowered proportionately (but not barred entirely).
Negligence defers to the principal of the “reasonably prudent person,” or an ideally responsible person. If an individual decides to administer emergency aid to an injured person and a reasonably prudent person would’ve only contacted emergency medical professionals, the defendant may be found negligent.
There are four elements to proving negligence. These elements can be viewed as legal questions about the defendant’s actions and the plaintiff’s injuries:
- Duty of Care—Was the defendant responsible for ensuring the plaintiff’s safety during the injuring incident?
- Breach of Duty—Did the defendant breach their duty of care?
- Causation—Was the breach of duty responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries? Were the injuries within the reasonable scope of the defendant’s duty to prevent?
- Damages—Do the injuries represent actual damages such as medical treatment bills that can be compensated?
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