What Is Professional Negligence?

Professional negligence is a term that is readily mentioned by individuals in a dispute or contemplated litigation, but what exactly is it, and how can it be successfully established?

In the first of my series of blogs about professional negligence, I will be writing about the relationship between a professional and another person and how to establish a claim.

In seeking to make a claim, there are four key elements as follows:

1. Duty of care;

2. Breach of Duty;

3. Causation; and

4. Loss or damage.

The first hurdle to overcome is in establishing that a duty of care exists and that it has been breached by that professional. Without passing this first ‘hurdle’, the claim cannot proceed any further.