Legal Definitions - action, cause of

A cause of action refers to the legal grounds or specific set of facts that allow a person or entity to bring a lawsuit against another party. It is essentially the legal theory and factual basis that, if proven in court, entitles the plaintiff (the person suing) to a legal remedy from the defendant (the person being sued).

To have a valid cause of action, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a legal duty was owed to them, that this duty was breached by the defendant, and that the breach directly caused them harm or injury that the law recognizes.

• Example 1: Breach of Contract

  Imagine a small business owner who hires a marketing agency to design and implement a new advertising campaign. They sign a contract specifying that the campaign must launch by a particular date and achieve certain performance metrics. The agency fails to launch the campaign on time and does not meet the agreed-upon performance targets, causing the business owner to lose potential customers and revenue.

  In this scenario, the business owner has a cause of action for breach of contract. The legal grounds are the broken promises within the signed agreement, and the facts include the agency's failure to meet deadlines and performance metrics, and the resulting financial losses. These elements, combined with contract law principles, give the business owner a legal right to sue the agency for damages.

• Example 2: Negligence (Personal Injury)

  Consider a pedestrian who is walking on a public sidewalk and trips over a loose, broken paving slab, sustaining a severe ankle injury. The city maintenance department had received multiple complaints about the hazardous slab but failed to repair it or place warning signs.

  The pedestrian has a cause of action for negligence against the city. The legal grounds are the city's duty to maintain safe public walkways, their breach of that duty by not repairing or warning about the known hazard, and the direct harm (ankle injury, medical expenses) caused by that breach. These facts and legal principles form the basis for a personal injury lawsuit.

• Example 3: Property Damage (Trespass)

  Suppose a homeowner discovers that their neighbor, while having construction work done, repeatedly allowed heavy machinery to drive across a corner of their property, damaging a section of their lawn and a small garden bed, despite clear property markers.

  The homeowner has a cause of action for trespass. The legal grounds are the neighbor's unauthorized entry onto their private property and the resulting damage. The facts include the repeated unauthorized use of the land by machinery and the destruction of the lawn and garden. This legal theory allows the homeowner to seek compensation for the damage and potentially an injunction to prevent future trespass.