What are the four elements that must be present for a plaintiff to win a lawsuit?

In a lawsuit, particularly those related to negligence, the four elements that must be present for a plaintiff to succeed in their claim are duty, breach, causation, and injury.

Duty refers to the legal obligation that one party has to another to act with a certain standard of care. This establishes a relationship where one party must be considered responsible for the potential impact of their actions on another.

Breach occurs when that party fails to meet the expected standard of care, resulting in a failure to uphold their duty. This can involve actions taken or a lack of actions that result in harm.

Causation is critical because it establishes the link between the breach of duty and the injury suffered by the plaintiff. It proves that the breach directly led to the harm experienced. There are two components to causation: actual cause (or cause-in-fact) and proximate cause.

Finally, injury involves actual damages suffered by the plaintiff, which can be physical, emotional, or financial. Without demonstrable injury, a lawsuit cannot be successfully pursued, even if all the other elements are present.

Together, these four elements construct a framework that the plaintiff must prove in order to establish liability in a negligence case.