Res ipsa loquitur


Tort law
Part of the common law series
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Portals
Law
In the common law of negligence, the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur (Latin for "the thing speaks for itself") states that the elements of duty of care and breach can be sometimes inferred from the very nature of the accident, even without direct evidence of how any defendant behaved. Although modern formulations differ by jurisdiction, the common law originally stated that the accident must satisfy the following conditions:

... a "duty" exists for a person to act "reasonably"; and
... a "breach" of this duty occurs because a person acted outside this duty, or "unreasonably"; and
... there was "causation in fact"...the result would not have occurred "but for" the "breach" of this duty;
... there was actual legally cognizable harm suffered by the plaintiff who did nothing wrong (i.e., no contributory negligence).
Upon a proof of res ipsa loquitur, the plaintiff need only establish the remaining two elements of negligence—namely, that the plaintiff suffered harm, of which the accident was the legal cause.

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Show Typical in medical malpractice

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