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Simple English definitions for legal terms
legal negligence
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A quick definition of legal negligence:
Legal negligence is when someone fails to take reasonable care in a situation where they should have. This can include not following established safety standards or not being careful enough to prevent harm to others. It is a type of negligence that can result in legal action being taken against the person responsible. Other types of negligence include active negligence, where someone does something that causes harm, and inadvertent negligence, where someone is not aware of the risk they are creating. Gross negligence is a particularly extreme form of negligence that involves a conscious disregard for the safety of others.A more thorough explanation:
Legal negligence is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation. It refers to any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm, except for conduct that is intentionally, wantonly, or willfully disregardful of others' rights. The term denotes culpable carelessness.
For example, if a doctor fails to diagnose a patient's illness correctly, and the patient suffers harm as a result, the doctor may be guilty of legal negligence. Similarly, if a driver runs a red light and causes an accident, they may be guilty of legal negligence.
Legal negligence can result in a tort, which is a civil wrong that causes harm or injury to another person. A tort grounded in legal negligence usually involves duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Other types of negligence include active negligence, advertent negligence, casual negligence, collateral negligence, comparative negligence, concurrent negligence, contributory negligence, criminal negligence, culpable negligence, gross negligence, hazardous negligence, imputed negligence, inadvertent negligence, joint negligence, negligence in law, negligence per se, ordinary negligence, passive negligence, professional negligence, reckless negligence, simple negligence, slight negligence, subsequent negligence, supine negligence, tax negligence, wanton negligence, willful and wanton negligence, and willful negligence.