Which elements constitute negligence for liability purposes?

• A. Duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages
• B. Duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and remediations
• C. Duty of care, liability, causation, and damages
• D. Duty of care, breach, causation, and damages

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is the four elements you must prove to establish negligence in a liability claim. To succeed, there must be a duty of care, a breach of that duty, a causal link between the breach and the injury, and actual damages.

Duty of care means the person had a legal obligation to act with reasonable care toward the other party under the circumstances. Breach happens when that duty isn’t met—when conduct falls short of the standard of a reasonable person. Causation ties the breach to the injury, showing that the harm would not have occurred but for the breach (and, in many cases, that the harm was a foreseeable result). Damages are the actual injury or loss suffered that can be compensated.

So the best choice lists all four essential components: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. Options that replace or omit one of these elements—for example, using a term like remediations instead of damages or treating liability as a separate element—do not align with how negligence is defined.