If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, you may have the right to recover compensation for your losses. But you’ll first have to show a breach of duty occurred.
What Is a Breach of Duty?
Most tort or personal injury cases are based on the legal concept of negligence. Breach of duty is one of the four legal elements you must prove by the preponderance of the evidence to secure compensation in a negligence claim.
A breach of duty occurs when someone violates a legal duty and causes injury to another. It can be an overt act—such as drinking and driving—or a failure to act, such as failing to put up warning signs for a wet floor.
Other Legal Elements of Negligence Claims
The other legal elements you must prove to establish negligence include:
- Legal duty: A legal duty is the level of care that someone is legally required to demonstrate under a particular set of circumstances.
- Causation: Causation is the link between the defendant’s breach of duty and the accident.
- Damages: Damages are the losses you suffer because of the accident, such as medical expenses or lost wages.
An experienced attorney can help you establish these elements and fight for the compensation you deserve.
How a Legal Duty Is Determined
Legal duties can be determined in different ways, including:
- Laws: Specific laws may directly state what a person’s or entity’s legal responsibility is. For example, all drivers are required to follow the rules of the road. Maryland’s dog bite statute says that if a dog bites someone while running at large, the dog owner is generally responsible for these injuries.
- Common law: Courts follow precedent established in previous cases, so if there is no direct law on the subject, they consider similar cases and how they ruled to establish the legal duty.
- Reasonable person standard: In the absence of a specific law or caselaw that provides a specific legal duty, courts consider what another reasonable, prudent person would have done under similar circumstances.
Experienced personal injury lawyers understand the different legal duties that exist and the proof they will need to establish them and breaches.
Examples of Breach of Duty in Different Types of Cases
The specific duty and potential breach of duty will depend on the specific case. Some examples of breach of duty could include the following in these types of cases:
Car Accidents
All drivers are required to follow traffic laws and take reasonable steps to avoid car accidents. Drivers may breach their duty by violating these laws or acting unsafely by:
- Speeding
- Following too closely
- Drinking and driving
- Using distractions
- Not paying attention
- Running red lights or stop signs
- Failing to yield the right-of-way
Police reports, traffic citations, and eyewitness testimony may be able to help prove a breach of duty.
Truck Accidents
Trucking companies and truck drivers are required to follow state and federal regulations. When they violate these rules, truck accidents can occur. Common violations include:
- Hiring unqualified drivers or those with unsafe driving histories
- Exceeding hours-of-service rules
- Skipping mandatory inspections
- Delaying required maintenance
- Failing to drug or alcohol test drivers
- Failing to use proper tie-downs or properly secure cargo
Trucking companies are required to maintain certain records, such as driver logs, event data recorder logs, and inspection records, that may help prove breaches of duty.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the standard of care and causes injury to a patient. The standard of care is based on what another healthcare professional in the same specialty area and similar background would have done under the same or similar circumstances. Some examples of breaching the standard of care in medical malpractice cases include:
- Delaying treatment
- Misdiagnosing a medical condition
- Failing to order necessary tests
- Not listening to a patient’s symptoms
- Misinterpreting test results
- Not communicating test results to a patient
- Making surgical errors
- Leaving scalpels, gauze, or other instruments in a patient after surgery
- Failing to reconcile medications
A medical expert witness may testify about the standard of care that was applied in the situation and how the defendant’s doctor deviated from it.
Premises Liability
Premises liability refers to a property owner’s or occupier’s legal responsibility to maintain a property and their financial responsibility when they fail to uphold their duties. Property owners may be responsible for accidents caused by failing to warn visitors of hazards on their property or failing to take reasonable steps to fix these hazards.
Product Liability
If a defective product injured you, you can hold the manufacturer responsible for any of the following defects:
- Manufacturing defects, which involve some problem that arose during the manufacturing process
- Design defects, which involve some inherent risk associated with the product
- Warning defects which occur when consumers are not provided with adequate warnings to understand the potential dangers associated with the product
An experienced attorney can help you obtain the evidence necessary to prove the breach of duty.
Call for a Free Case Review to Discuss Your Situation with an Experienced Attorney
In personal injury cases, proving a breach of duty is crucial to securing compensation for your injuries. Whether the breach occurred due to negligence in a car accident, a medical error, or a hazardous property condition, establishing the defendant’s failure to meet their legal duty is key. If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s breach of duty, contact Alpert Schreyer Personal Injury Lawyers. We can review your case and ensure you have the best chance of receiving the compensation you deserve. Contact us today at (301) 932-9997 to arrange your free consultation.