Legal Mumbo Jumbo

1. Negligence:
   • "Negligence" is both the name of a "cause of action" in "tort" and an "element" of the cause of action called Negligence. The cause of action "Negligence" consists of the following:
     1. A duty owed by a tortfeasor to a "plaintiff"
     2. A breach of that duty
     3. Injury to the plaintiff
     4. The injury must be caused by the breach of the duty owed
   • A plaintiff must plead and prove each of the elements of Negligence to be entitled to recover.
   • Negligence is also defined as the failure to use due care. That is, one is negligent if he fails to use reasonable care under the factual circumstances of the injury.
2. Tort:
   • A civil wrong. A fact pattern under which the law recognizes a right to recovery of damages by one citizen from another.
3. Cause of action:
   • A particular legal theory under which, when proved, a court will award recovery.
4. Defense:
   • A legal theory under which a defendant might avoid liability for a tort.
5. Comparative negligence:
   • A type of defense to a tort claim. A means by which a plaintiff’s recovery is reduced because he caused his own injury or loss.
6. Duty:
   • An obligation imposed by law or contract to do (or to refrain from doing) some action or precaution – typically, failing to use due care (being negligent).
7. Breach of duty:
   • The failure to properly adhere to one’s duty.
8. Cause:
   • A breach of duty is the cause of a loss when the loss would not have occurred but for the breach of duty. (E.g., the defendant’s automobile would not have struck the back of the plaintiff’s car but for the defendant’s failure to step on the brake.)
9. Injury:
   • A harm suffered to the person of a plaintiff: a bodily injury; distinguished from damage to a personal property.

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