Legal Definitions - breach of duty

Breach of duty refers to the violation of a legal or moral obligation, which can include a fiduciary's failure to fulfill their obligation to another party. This is often seen in cases of negligence, which is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation.

For example, if a doctor fails to provide adequate care to a patient, resulting in harm or injury, they may be found to have breached their duty of care. Similarly, if a company fails to provide a safe working environment for their employees, they may be found to have breached their duty of care.

In legal terms, breach of duty is one of the elements required to prove a tort of negligence. The other elements include duty, causation, and damages.