Legal Definitions - cause of action

A cause of action refers to the specific legal grounds or reason for someone to bring a lawsuit against another party in court. It is a collection of facts that, if proven, entitle the person bringing the lawsuit (the plaintiff) to a legal remedy from the other party (the defendant).

Each cause of action has specific "elements" or conditions that must be met. These elements are established by laws, statutes, or previous court decisions. Without a valid cause of action—meaning the plaintiff cannot prove all the necessary factual elements—a lawsuit cannot proceed successfully, even if the plaintiff believes they have been wronged.

• Example 1: Breach of Contract

  Imagine a small business owner hires a marketing agency to design and launch a new advertising campaign by a specific date, with agreed-upon deliverables and a payment schedule. The agency accepts the payment but fails to deliver the campaign materials on time, causing the business owner to miss a crucial sales period and lose revenue.

  In this scenario, the business owner likely has a cause of action for breach of contract. The elements for this cause of action typically include: (1) a valid contract existed between the parties, (2) the marketing agency failed to perform its obligations as agreed (breached the contract), and (3) the business owner suffered damages (lost revenue) as a direct result of that breach. If these facts can be proven in court, the business owner could seek a legal remedy, such as monetary compensation for their losses.

• Example 2: Negligence (Personal Injury)

  Consider a situation where a pedestrian is walking on a public sidewalk, and a delivery driver, distracted by their phone, veers onto the sidewalk and hits the pedestrian, causing serious injuries.

  The injured pedestrian would have a cause of action for negligence. The typical elements of negligence that would need to be proven are: (1) the delivery driver owed a duty of care to the pedestrian (to drive safely and avoid harming others), (2) the driver breached that duty (by being distracted and driving onto the sidewalk), (3) this breach caused the pedestrian's injuries, and (4) the pedestrian suffered actual damages (medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages). If these elements are established, the pedestrian could seek compensation for their injuries and losses.