When people in Massachusetts think of a “personal injury” lawsuit, they probably think of motor vehicle accidents. The fact is that a personal injury lawsuit might be filed because of many other types of circumstances as well, such as medical malpractice, products liability or even slip-and-fall cases, for example. In many personal injury lawsuits, the concept of “negligence” is key. So, what is “negligence” in a personal injury lawsuit?
Negligence overview
In most situations, “negligence” is typically defined as a failure to abide by a reasonable level of care expected of someone of ordinary prudence in a specific situation. In short, that means that a person does not behave like they should have, and the person’s acts or omissions led to an injury.
So, for example, a distracted driver who is looking at a cellphone instead of paying attention to the task of driving may be found “negligent” in that specific situation. Or a doctor who fails to follow medical procedures in a specific treatment situation may be found negligent. Or, if a shop owner fails to clean up a spill or other dangerous property condition that was known, and then the property condition causes a customer to slip and fall, that might also be negligence.
The facts of any given personal injury case can vary greatly. However, negligence is often one of the key elements of these types of cases. If you believe you have been injured due to another party’s negligence, you may want to have your situation analyzed for a potential personal injury claim.