General Negligence

The concept of negligence rests on the duty of every person to exercise due care in his conduct toward others so that injury to those others is not a result of his conduct.

The failure to use such due care as any reasonably prudent and careful person would use under the circumstances which otherwise could cause injury to others is negligence. Another way of describing negligence is the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent person would not do.

Negligence can be described as an act which a person of ordinary prudence would not have done under similar circumstances.

Negligence may also be an omission to do something which any reasonable man, who is guided by those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would have done.

Whenever the issue of negligence is raised, the initial question is: was the alleged wrongdoers conduct reasonable and did the he take all reasonable care under the circumstances.

When making a claim of negligence, the plaintiff must prove four elements:

• 1) Duty of Care - the alleged wrongdoer must have had a duty of care or an obligation to conform to a certain standard of conduct towards the injured;
• 2) Breach of the Duty of Care - the alleged wrongdoer must have breached his duty of care towards the injured;
• 3) Proximate Cause of Injury - there must be a close causal connection between the act of the alleged wrongdoer and the injury that resulted to the victim. The breach his duty of care towards the victim must have been the proximate cause of the injured's damages; and
• 4) Damages to the Injured - the injured victim must have incurred damages.

Damages must be actual loss, not speculative loss or nominal damages for a technical violation. Damages include physical injury, medical expenses, financial loss whether wages or property, emotional distress, and loss of care and comfort of spouse or child.

A commonly asked question is "What is a Statute of Limitations?" Every state has enacted Statutes of Limitation. A statute of limitation places a time frame within which a suit claiming damages for a particular type of negligence must be filed. The statute of limitations is a defense for a claim of negligence. Should the injured fail to file his suit within the required time frame, his claim may be barred by the statute.

The next question asked is "When does the statute of limitations start to run?" Generally, the statute of limitations starts to run from the date of the negligent event. However, some acts that are negligent may not be discovered immediately. In such an incident, the statute of limitations in Massachusetts starts upon discovery of the negligent act.

"How long is the time of the statute of limitations?" There is not just one statute of limitations. Most states have different time limits for different types of negligence and the time limits for each type of negligence may differ from state to state.

The Law Offices of Hans R. Hailey are located in Boston and Westwood, Massachusetts. Negligence lawyers from the Law Offices of Hans R. Hailey frequently represent clients in negligence claims in Boston and throughout Massachusetts.