Negligence

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Negligence means failure to use reasonable care which results in an unintentional injury to another party. It means doing something that wouldn't normally be done by an ordinarily reasonable person, or the failure to do something that an ordinarily reasonable person would do under the circumstances.

The law states that a person or an organization is generally liable when they negligently injure others.

If the injured party can prove that they failed to "exercise that degree of care that, in the circumstances, the law requires for the protection of other persons or those interests of other persons that may be injuriously affected by the want of such care," the injured party may be entitled to compensation. If an injured party has suffered due to negligent behavior, they have the right to be compensated for physical or emotional injury, harm to their property and/or financial status.

Negligence is a legal concept usually used to achieve compensation for accidents and injuries. Negligence is a type of tort or delict and a civil wrong, but can also be used in criminal law. It can be divided into the following levels:

• Ordinary negligence is the want of ordinary diligence;
• Slight or less than ordinary negligence is the want of great diligence;
• Gross or more than ordinary negligence is the want of slight diligence.

Most negligent acts are unintentional but others are categorized as willful, wanton or reckless. As well, deliberate judgments that are dangerously careless, such as a faulty building design, could be considered an act of negligence.

If a defective product is deemed unreasonably dangerous (e.g. faulty seat belt buckles), the manufacturer may be liable, even though the faulty design was unintentional. However, there is no law upon the manufacturer to produce a product that is 'accident-proof.' The manufacturer is required to make a product which is free from defective and unreasonably dangerous conditions.

In a negligence action, resulting damages must be proved before recovering compensation.

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Negligence Articles

Slip-and-fall case: Negligence costs store owners more than $12.2 million
A woman who slipped and fell while entering a corner gas and convenience store was awarded more than $12.2 million in damages for negligence by a jury in Hampton last month...her world changed forever.

Negligence in the News

JAN-16-08: A man has filed a negligence lawsuit against a hospital alleging he broke his neck after he was left sedated, improperly restrained and unattended on an X-ray table. [DAILY NEWS: NEGLIGENCE]

JAN-15-08: The sister of a woman who was murdered at a mall parking lot has filed a negligence lawsuit against the owner of the mall, alleging the mall should have had better security. [NEWS: NEGLIGENCE]

JAN-14-08: A patient has filed a negligence lawsuit against a medical center, alleging that officials failed to prevent a nursing assistant from sexually assaulting her. The plaintiff claims that officials knew the assistant had been accused of assaulting a patient and failed to stop him. [PRESS-ENTERPRISE: NEGLIGENCE]

JAN-9-08: Deere & Company is being sued by the family of an injured 4-year old girl for negligent design of the lawn mower that caused her to have her leg amputated. The suit claims that the design allows for the blades to keeping spinning while the mower is operated in reverse. [REGISTER-GUARD: NEGLIGENCE]

JAN-02-08: Two boys who were molested by a priest filed a lawsuit alleging the overseeing diocese was negligent because he knew about the priest’s history of molesting children but still gave the priest unsupervised access to them. [WVEC: NEGLIGENCE]

JAN-02-08: The family of a roofer who died after coming into contact with live power lines has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Entergy, UHI, Brazos and RSC were negligent in allowing the death to occur. [RECORD: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-30-07: The father of a man who choked to death in a restaurant has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant alleging negligence. The plaintiff claims the restaurant should have trained staff properly to deal with such a situation. [POST: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-24-07: A former contestant on The Price is Right has filed a negligence lawsuit against the show, CBS Broadcasting and others after she discovered that the new car she won had actually been in an accident and had extensive repairs prior to being delivered to her. [NEWS TRIBUNE: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-23-07: Three members of the Duke University lacrosse team have filed a lawsuit against the college and the former district attorney alleging negligence, fraud, conspiracy and emotional distress. The plaintiffs were members of a lacrosse team when three other members were indicted, and later exonerated, for rape. [GAZETTE: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-22-07: A leukemia patient filed a lawsuit against the maker of a batch of prefilled syringes alleging that the company’s negligence resulted in the syringes being contaminated with bacteria, which made her ill. [BURBS: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-20-07: The widow of a building inspector who died after falling from a ladder has filed a lawsuit against the city of Southlake alleging that negligence contributed to his death. The plaintiff claims that officials knew inspectors were underequipped for their jobs. [STAR-TELEGRAM: NEGLIGENCE]

DEC-18-07: The Utah Supreme Court ruled waivers cannot prevent injured skiers from filing negligence lawsuits against resorts. [TRIBUNE: NEGLIGENCE]

Negligence Legal Help

If you or a loved one has suffered negligence causing personal injury, please click the link below to send your complaint to a lawyer to evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.