What Does “Breach Of Duty” Mean In Injury Law? (2025)

What Is a Duty of Care?

To fully understand the concept of breach of duty, you first need to understand the concept of a duty of care. A duty of care is an obligation to take reasonable actions to avoid causing harm. There are four main situations in which a duty of care applies:

There Is a Business or Voluntary Relationship

When a business owner has a public location, they have a duty to maintain safe premises for employees and customers.

The Defendant Reasonably Should Have Known Their Actions Could Cause Harm

Most people know that street racing is dangerous. Thus, a defendant who hits a pedestrian while street racing may be held liable.

The Defendant Created a Risk

Roofing companies have an obligation to ensure members of the public aren’t injured by falling tools. Failing to do so can constitute a breach of its duty of care.

The Defendant Volunteered to Protect Someone

Someone who has chosen to protect someone owes a duty of care to that person. For instance, because volunteer firefighters are offering to protect victims of fire, they have a duty not to be intoxicated.

What Is a Breach of Duty?

The breach of duty definition in law is fairly straightforward: If there is a duty of care and that duty of care has not been followed, a breach of duty has occurred. These are some examples of breaches of duty:

• A doctor providing substandard care
• A business owner leaving ice on the sidewalk
• A driver driving while intoxicated
• A trucking company ordering its drivers to skip mandatory breaks
• A homeowner inviting guests onto a rotting, unstable deck
• A dog owner allowing their pet to roam loose and attack people

In some cases, it’s difficult to tell if a breach of duty has occurred or not. If you’re in doubt, a lawyer can examine your case and offer insight.

Breach of Duty in Negligence Cases

In negligence cases (like personal injury lawsuits), the attorney for the plaintiff must prove four elements:

• The defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff.
• The defendant breached that duty.
• The plaintiff suffered harm as a result of the breach.
• The plaintiff has damages to recover as a result of that harm.

When determining whether the defendant breached their duty of care or not, most civil courts use the reasonable person standard. This means that if a reasonably cautious, prudent person would not have acted as the defendant did, the defendant likely breached their duty of care. This often means that they were negligent.

It’s important to note that a “reasonable person” isn’t someone who takes every possible precaution. Instead, a reasonable person acts as most people with common sense would. This means that they don’t act in ways that would likely harm other people or themselves and that they do take action to avoid harm when needed.

In some of these cases, you may still be able to recover compensation if you were somewhat negligent as well. However, in certain states, any contributory negligence on your part bars you from recovering damages — even if there was a clear breach of duty on someone else’s part.

Breach of Duty Example

Here’s an example of how the concept of breach of duty works in negligence lawsuits. Imagine you are in a crosswalk when a speeding driver hits you, and you suffer serious injuries. If you decide you want to file a car accident lawsuit, your lawyer would need to prove the elements of negligence, including the fact that a breach of duty occurred.

In this case, the driver has a duty of care to obey traffic laws, yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and avoid collisions when possible. Striking you is a clear indication of a breach of that duty.

Breach of Duty in Strict Liability Cases

Breach of duty is a common concept in cases based on negligence. However, it also applies in strict liability cases — situations where a defendant does not necessarily have to act negligently to be held legally liable for harm. For example, product liability cases are usually (but not always) strict liability cases.

In states where product liability cases are treated as strict liability cases, you don’t have to prove the manufacturer, product designer or other relevant party acted negligently. Businesses involved in creating, producing and bringing products to market owe a duty of care to the general public to ensure those products are safe.

If the products are not safe, those businesses have breached the duty of care. They can be held liable whether their actions were negligent or not. If you have suffered serious harm from a given product, a product liability attorney can discuss your case with you and help you determine whether filing a lawsuit is in your best interests.

Have You Been Harmed by a Breach of Duty?

Not every breach of duty has devastating consequences. However, perhaps someone has breached their duty of care to you, and you have suffered harm as a direct result. In that case, you shouldn’t have to navigate your situation alone.

At ConsumerShield, we’re committed to connecting people like you with knowledgeable, experienced attorneys who can help. If you think a personal injury lawyer may be able to assist you with your case, get in touch with us today for a free case evaluation.