Which element of negligence involves a link between conduct and injury?

Which element of negligence involves a link between conduct and injury?

• A. Causation
• B. Duty
• C. Damages
• D. Breach of Duty

Answer: (A)

Causation is the element that ties the defendant's conduct to the plaintiff's injury. In negligence cases, liability hinges on showing that the defendant owed a duty of reasonable care, breached that duty, and that the breach caused the injury, resulting in damages. Causation has two parts: actual cause (would the injury have happened but for the defendant's conduct?) and proximate cause (the injury was a foreseeable consequence of the breach and not too remote). If causation isn’t established, there can be no liability even if a duty existed and a breach occurred, and even if damages are present. The other elements describe the existence of duty, the breach of that duty, and the harm itself, but only causation links the conduct to the injury.

Causation is the element that ties the defendant's conduct to the plaintiff's injury. In negligence cases, liability hinges on showing that the defendant owed a duty of reasonable care, breached that duty, and that the breach caused the injury, resulting in damages. Causation has two parts: actual cause (would the injury have happened but for the defendant's conduct?) and proximate cause (the injury was a foreseeable consequence of the breach and not too remote). If causation isn’t established, there can be no liability even if a duty existed and a breach occurred, and even if damages are present. The other elements describe the existence of duty, the breach of that duty, and the harm itself, but only causation links the conduct to the injury.