100+ years of combined experience and over $200 million won for our clients in Missouri and Illinois. Contact a personal injury lawyer near you.
Free Consultation
(314) 500-HURTCausation is the causal relationship between the defendant’s conduct and end result. It is the act or process that produces an effect.
In a personal injury case, you must establish causation – meaning that it’s not enough to show that the defendant was negligent. The negligence must be what caused the complainant’s injuries. Causation essentially means proof of negligence. Causation in negligence can be hard to determine because every negligence case is subjective. It is not always obvious, so there needs to be legal parameters to follow to determine the cause of negligence. Because of the nuances, it is important to work with an experienced personal injury lawyer at Burger Law who understands both parts of causation:
Cause-in-fact, also known as factual causation or actual cause, is the actual evidence, or facts of the case, that prove a party is at fault for causing the other person’s harm, damages or losses. It seeks to answer a question to the “but-for” test – asking if the victim was harmed, was that harm directly caused by the defendant’s actions? Another way to think about it is: But for the existence of ABC, would XYZ have happened?
Unlike the fact-based timeline of factual causation, proximate causation is a trickier legal concept. Proximate causation is about opinions and options that are not necessarily rooted in fact, but rather about finding out whether or not the injury would have occurred without the proximate cause. It asks the question: Is it reasonable that the defendant knew their actions could and would cause harm? Proximate causation needs to be a direct cause of the harm that was done. It cannot be anything coincidental or abnormal. It also cannot be foreseeable.
An example of causation in negligence would be a homeowner leaving the surrounding their backyard pool unlocked. Suppose a child opens the gate, falls into the pool and drowns. The homeowner’s negligent action caused the accident, so causation could be established. However, if a child climbed over the fence at the other end of the pool, fell into the pool and drowned, the homeowner would not be liable. Although there was negligence in both examples, the negligence in this case did not cause the child’s accident. The accident would have happened even if the gate had been locked.
Client Reviews
View More Reviews on Google Maps and Yelp
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Gary Burger who has more than 30 years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury trial attorney. Gary’s robust legal knowledge is recognized by his peers as demonstrated by his industry awards and frequent Continuing Legal Education (CLE) lectures.
NO FEES UNTIL WE WIN YOUR CASE
We offer free consultations and are available 24/7 to take your call. Live chat, text, and virtual meetings are available.
or call us at