Georgia Negligence Elements

To state a cause of action for negligence in Georgia, the following elements are essential: (1) a legal duty to conform to a standard of conduct raised by the law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm; (2) a breach of this standard; (3) a legally attributable causal connection between the conduct and the resulting injury; (4) some loss or damage flowing to the plaintiff's legally protected interest as a result of the alleged breach of the legal duty." Lee Street Auto Sales v. Warren, 102 Ga. App. 345 (1) (116 S.E.2d 243) (1960). Bradley Center v. Wessner, 250 Ga. 199, 200 (296 S.E.2d 693) (1982). Negligence consists of exposing someone to whom a duty of care is owed to a foreseeable, unreasonable probability of harm. Foresight requires the ability to anticipate a risk of harm from the conduct in some form. See Ellington v. Tolar Constr. Co., 237 Ga. 235 (227 S.E.2d 336) (1976). Thus, the legal duty to exercise ordinary care arises from the foreseeable, unreasonable risk of harm from such conduct. See Landis v. Rockdale County, 206 Ga. App. 876 (427 S.E.2d 286) (1992). Negligence is predicated on what should be anticipated, rather than on what happened, because one is not bound to anticipate or foresee and provide against what is unlikely, remote, slightly probable, or slightly possible. Brogdon v. Wal-Mart Stores, 230 Ga. App. 474 (496 S.E.2d 499) (1998). "No matter how innocent the plaintiff may be, he is not entitled to recover unless the defendant did something that it should not have done, or failed to do something that it should have done pursuant to the duty owed to the plaintiff." City of Douglasville v. Queen, 270 Ga. 770, 771 (1) (514 S.E.2d 195) (1999).