What must be established to prove negligence in Ohio?

To prove negligence in Ohio, it is essential to establish a framework that includes a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the harm caused, and resulting damages.

The first element, duty, refers to the legal obligation one party has to avoid causing harm to another. This creates a standard of care that must be observed. Next, the breach of duty is the failure to meet that standard, which means the defendant acted in a way that falls short of what is expected. Causation must be demonstrated to establish a direct link between the breach and the harm suffered by the plaintiff, typically broken down into actual cause (the immediate cause of the injury) and proximate cause (whether the harm was a foreseeable result of the breach). Finally, damages must be shown; these are the actual losses or injuries that resulted from the negligence.

This structured approach provides a clear path for establishing whether negligence occurred and ensures that each essential element is thoroughly evaluated in a legal context. The elements specified in the other options do not encompass the foundational aspects required for proving negligence in Ohio, making them less applicable.