Breach of duty of care (3 requirements + 4 factors)

Breach of duty of care is a key component in a negligence claim. There are three requirements that must be met to establish a breach of duty of care:

1. Duty of Care: The defendant must owe a duty of care to the plaintiff. This is often a relationship where one party is in a position to prevent harm to the other, such as a doctor-patient relationship.

2. Breach of Duty: The defendant must have breached that duty of care. This means that they failed to meet the standard of care expected in their position.

3. Causation: The breach of duty must have caused harm to the plaintiff. This means that the harm suffered by the plaintiff was a direct result of the defendant's breach of duty.

There are also four factors that are considered when determining if a breach of duty has occurred:

1. Foreseeability: Was it foreseeable that the defendant's actions could cause harm?

2. Probability: What was the likelihood that the defendant's actions would cause harm?

3. Seriousness of Harm: How serious was the harm that resulted from the defendant's actions?

4. Burden of Avoiding Harm: What would it have cost the defendant to avoid causing harm?

These factors are used to determine if the defendant's actions were reasonable under the circumstances. If the actions were not reasonable, then a breach of duty has occurred.