Which elements constitute a prima facie case of negligence?

Which elements constitute a prima facie case of negligence?

• A. Duty of care, standard of care, breach, causation, damage
• B. Duty of care, breach, actual and proximate cause, damage
• C. Duty of care, breach, causation, and intent to harm
• D. Duty of care, breach, foreseeability, damage

Answer: (B)

Negligence is proven by four elements: a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the injury (both actual and proximate/ legal causation), and damages resulting from the injury. The duty of care is the obligation to act reasonably to avoid harming others; in a landlord-tenant context, this includes keeping the property safe. A breach means failing to meet the reasonable standard of care under the circumstances. Causation has two parts: actual cause (but-for the breach, the harm would not have happened) and proximate cause (the harm was a foreseeable and direct consequence of the breach). Damages are the actual losses suffered, which you must show to recover. The best choice lists exactly these four elements in one framework: duty of care, breach, actual and proximate causation, and damages. It doesn’t insert an extra, separate element like the standard of care, which is what breach is judged against; it doesn’t invoke intent to harm, which relates to intentional torts rather than negligence; and it keeps causation in terms of actual and proximate rather than substituting foreseeability alone.

Negligence is proven by four elements: a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the injury (both actual and proximate/ legal causation), and damages resulting from the injury. The duty of care is the obligation to act reasonably to avoid harming others; in a landlord-tenant context, this includes keeping the property safe. A breach means failing to meet the reasonable standard of care under the circumstances. Causation has two parts: actual cause (but-for the breach, the harm would not have happened) and proximate cause (the harm was a foreseeable and direct consequence of the breach). Damages are the actual losses suffered, which you must show to recover.

The best choice lists exactly these four elements in one framework: duty of care, breach, actual and proximate causation, and damages. It doesn’t insert an extra, separate element like the standard of care, which is what breach is judged against; it doesn’t invoke intent to harm, which relates to intentional torts rather than negligence; and it keeps causation in terms of actual and proximate rather than substituting foreseeability alone.