Negligence Cases in Small Claims Court (California)
Negligence occurs when someone fails to act as a reasonably careful person would in a situation, leading to potential personal injury and/or property damage.
Common examples of negligence cases:
- Car Accidents: Negligent driving, such as speeding, distracted driving, or running red lights can lead to car accidents resulting in death, injuries, or property damage.
- Slip and Fall Accidents: Property owners and managers may be negligent if they do not maintain safe premises, leading to accidents due to hazardous conditions like wet floors, uneven surfaces, or inadequate lighting.
- Improper Maintenance by a Neighbor: Property owners may be negligent for failing to address hazardous conditions like falling trees or branches resulting in death, injury, or property damage to neighboring properties.
- Improper Property Maintenance by a Landlord: Property owners or managers neglecting property maintenance may be negligent if it leads to death, injuries, or property damage.
- Construction Negligence: Contractors and construction workers may be negligent if their work causes death, injuries, or damage to neighboring properties (e.g., falling debris damaging fences and cars).
- Professional Negligence: Professionals hired to perform may be negligent if they lack the expected skill, knowledge, and care in their field, resulting in harm to a client or patient. This is common in professions like medical, legal, accounting, engineering, real estate, architecture, or financial advising.
🛈 Note that different states may have different laws about causes of actions and elements. This article is based on California law, please review your state law.
Elements
To win a negligence case, you must prove the essential elements are true:
Duty of Care: The Defendant had an obligation to exercise a certain level of care to prevent harm.
Breach of Duty: The Defendant did not exercise the required level of care.
Causation: There is a connection between the Defendant’s breach of duty of care and the Plaintiff’s harm.
Damages: The Plaintiff was harmed by the Defendant’s breach of their duty of care.
Example
While driving on the freeway, you were rear-ended by the Defendant due to distraction, leading to car damage. The Defendant lacks insurance, requiring you to sue for repair costs.
- Duty of Care: 02/25/2022, both you and the Defendant were driving on the 405-Northbound. The Defendant owed a duty of care to all drivers to avoid accidents.
- Breach of Duty: 02/05/2022, despite heavy traffic, the Defendant's distraction caused foreseeably avoidable damage.
- Causation: 02/05/2022, your car was damaged due to the Defendant's distraction.
- Damages:
- 02/05/2022, you lost $200 in wages being 2 hours late to work.
- 02/15/2022, car repair cost $6,500, totaling $6,700 in damages.
To prove an element true, gather supportive evidence. Organize by adding key events to your timeline. Include examples to persuade the judge and win your case.
Proving Duty of Care
To prove duty of care, the evidence must show that the other party had an obligation to exercise a certain level of care to prevent foreseeable harm. The required level of care depends on the relationship between the parties, the specific situation, and the foreseeability of consequences.
Events to include in the timeline:
- Car accidents: drivers owe duty of care on the road.
- Store/business injuries: duty of care to customers/visitors.
- Professional negligence: duty of care to patients.
- Laws/standards establish duty of care (e.g., traffic laws, workplace safety).
- Expert testimony determines standard of care and professionalism.
Example
You and the Defendant were both operating a vehicle on a common freeway. It is common knowledge that the duty of care is that all drivers on the road are assumed to owe a duty of care to others on the road by being attentive so as to not cause damage to other vehicles and/or drivers.
Proving Breach of Duty
The second element to prove is the breach of the duty of care by the Defendant. If the Defendant’s conduct did not comply with the duty of care owed, and the harm caused was foreseeable, then the Defendant’s failure to prevent harm may be a breach of their duty of care.
Events to include in the timeline:
- The Defendant drove recklessly by speeding, running red lights, or being inattentive during the collision. Dashcam footage can be strong evidence of the breach.
- The Defendant, as a business owner, neglected known hazards like slippery floors or uneven surfaces. Photos or videos of the premises' condition can show a breach.
- The Defendant's failure to follow professional standards, resulting in harm, could constitute a breach. Documentation of the care provided can reveal a breach.
- Eyewitness accounts are crucial in illustrating the Defendant's actions or inactions that led to a breach of duty.
Example
The Defendant caused the traffic collision by taking their eyes off the road, looking at the sunset moments before the collision occurred. Your dashcam recording proves you were driving reasonably with no sudden changes that would have caused the collision.
Proving Causation
The third element to prove is that the Defendant’s breach of duty caused the harm you suffered. Causation can be demonstrated by proving an actual cause or proximate cause, as explained below.
- Actual Cause Example: While driving, the Defendant ran a red light and collided with the Plaintiff’s car. If the Defendant had not run the red light, there would not have been an accident. The Defendant’s action of running the red light was the actual cause of the accident.
If you cannot establish that the Defendant’s breach of duty actually caused your harm, then you can consider if the Defendant’s action significantly contributed to the harm you suffered. This is called proximate cause and can also be demonstrated to prove causation.
Three proximate cause examples:
- Proximate Causation Example 1: Your neighbor dropped groceries which broke a bottle of olive oil near the elevator in your apartment building. They didn't clean up, causing you to slip on the oil and cut your leg on the glass when leaving the elevator shortly after. The neighbor's negligence led to your injury as prompt cleaning could have prevented the accident.
- Proximate Causation Example 2: You live in a house surrounded by the forest. One night, a camper set a fire nearby, and a fallen electric line caused another fire. Your house was in the middle, and when the fires met, it burned down. You sued the camper and the company maintaining the electric line. It's unclear who's responsible. Either party's negligence was the proximate cause of your injury. If one of them breached their duty of care, the fire would still have reached your house. Each party's breach was a substantial factor that caused you harm.
- Proximate Causation Example 3: While hunting in the woods, you didn’t realize that a group of three men were hunting in the same territory. While walking through bushes to find your prey, the three men noticed the movement of the bushes and all shot in that direction, hoping to shoot their prey. Instead, they hit you, and one of the pellets hit your eye, causing severe injury. No one knows whose rifle shot the particular pellet that caused your injury, so you sued them all.
Events to include in the timeline:
- Evidence showing the harm wouldn't have occurred without the Defendant’s breach.
- Eyewitness accounts, videos, photos, or evidence linking the Defendant's breach to your harm.
- Expert testimony providing professional opinions on the causal link between the Defendant’s breach and your harm.
- Evidence showing a sequence of events from the Defendant’s breach to the harm suffered.
Example
You took photos of both vehicles after the collision. The damages on each vehicle show that the other party's breach of duty caused the collision and the property damage you incurred.
Proving Damages
Lastly, you have to prove that you suffered harm as a result of the other party’s breach of duty. Show how you calculated the final amount they owe you, because the judge will want to know. Damages could be economic (monetary losses, lost earning potential, etc.) or non-economic (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, etc.). Economic damages may be easier to quantify and prove in court than non-economic damages.
Events to include in the timeline:
- Medical records or bills.
- Expert medical testimony on injuries.
- Repair receipts for damages.
- Estimates of property loss.
- Employment records for wage loss.
Example
Your car was damaged and repaired at the dealership for $6,500. You also lost 4 hours of work, totaling $200. You are seeking $6,700 in damages.
Elements for Different Types of Negligence Cases
The four elements for general negligence cases may vary depending on the case.
Examples of negligence cases with additional or different elements:
- Premises Liability: Harm due to the Defendant's careless property management
- Products Liability: Harm from the Defendant's product negligence, leading to liability
- Professional Negligence: Harm from a healthcare provider's negligent professional services
- Negligence per se: Harm where the Defendant is presumed negligent for violating a law