Negligence Liability and Regulation

As legal professionals, we understand the trust, reliance, and confidence clients place on professional relationships. We also understand the harm an accusation of negligence or professional misconduct can have on a person’s reputation, integrity, and business.

Atkinson LLP civil litigation lawyers represent and defend individuals before various regulatory bodies, tribunals, disciplinary bodies, and civil hearings, such as an assessment hearing. As this process can be complicated, confusing, and time consuming, many individuals choose to be represented by a lawyer or paralegal. Our civil litigation lawyers can provide you with advice and guidance to ease this process. We will help you achieve a discrete and expedient resolution to your matter.

Negligence refers to one’s failure to exercise reasonable care in a situation or circumstance where it is expected. Many times, the carelessness of one individual causes harm to another. Professional negligence occurs when the person who fails to exercise reasonable care is in a professional relationship such as a doctor, lawyer, or dentist. To successfully demonstrate that a person was negligent, the person claiming negligence must successfully prove the following five elements:

1. The Defendant, or person who committed the negligent act, owed the Plaintiff, the person who was harmed by the negligent act, a duty of care;
2. The Defendant breached that duty of care. To determine this, the court will look at what a similar person in the same circumstances would have done, also known as the reasonable person test;
3. The court will look at whether the Defendant could have predicted that harm would occur as a result of their actions, also known as the foreseeability test;
4. The court will determine whether the Defendant’s negligent act was caused or closely linked to the harm suffered by the Plaintiff; and,
5. The court will determine the extent of the loss suffered by the Plaintiff as a result of the Defendant’s actions.

Many have criticized the concept of degrees of negligence; however, it can be helpful to discuss mere negligence and gross negligence as they are most often used by various courts and jurisdictions. Mere negligence or ordinary negligence as outlined above refers to the failure of one to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in a similar situation. Gross negligence refers to conduct that is more extreme than the former, and requires a serious market departure from the standard expected of a reasonably prudent person. It is important to note that gross negligence has also been used interchangeably with willful misconduct.

Atkinson LLP is located in the heart of the financial district in downtown Toronto. Our legal staff are ready to assist you with your professional negligence matter. Call us at 647 341 1714 or email us at [email protected] for a consultation. Please note that this article is intended for educational purposes only. It contains general information about legal matters and should not be considered legal advice.