Also known as: duty of care · standard of care
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
The degree of attention, caution, and diligence that a person must exercise in a particular situation to avoid liability or fulfill a legal obligation. The required level is measured against the conduct a reasonable person would display under similar circumstances, with deviations creating exposure to civil or criminal consequences.
The constitutional duty imposed on the President to ensure that federal laws are faithfully executed.
The degree of attention, caution, and diligence that a person must exercise in a particular situation to avoid liability or fulfill a legal obligation. The required level is measured against the conduct a reasonable person would display under similar circumstances, with deviations creating exposure to civil or criminal consequences.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The constitutional duty imposed on the President to ensure that federal laws are faithfully executed.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Cody Callahan drove his truck at high speed through a residential neighborhood while texting. He struck and killed a pedestrian. The prosecution charged involuntary manslaughter on the ground that his conduct constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable driver would observe, creating a high risk of death.
Christopher Collins, an officer of Cypress Technologies, approved a risky investment without reviewing available financial data that a similarly situated officer would have examined. Shareholders sued, alleging breach of the duty to act with the care that a person in a like position would reasonably exercise under similar circumstances.
Craig Caldwell, a lab technician, failed to notice a substantial risk that a blood sample had been contaminated because he did not follow basic labeling protocols. The resulting misidentification led to wrongful charges. His conduct was measured against the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in the same situation.
Caleb Chang, an agent managing Cedar Creek Farms' accounts, overlooked a recurring billing error that ordinary experience and intelligence would have caught. The principal suffered losses and claimed the agent failed to use due care in performing his duties.
Crystal Dynamics leased space to a dental office and promised in the lease to maintain the plumbing. After the hot-water line malfunctioned and scalded a patient, the tenant sued. Liability turned on whether the landlord had exercised reasonable care to perform the repair promise and thereby prevent the unreasonable risk.
Civil negligence requires only a failure to exercise ordinary care. Criminal negligence, as in involuntary manslaughter, demands a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe, creating a high risk of death or serious bodily harm.
Supporting sources
Both require the actor to exercise the care that a person in a like position would reasonably exercise under similar circumstances, taking into account the knowledge and intelligence the actor possesses or purports to possess.
Supporting sources
Liability arises when the landlord has contracted to keep the property in repair, the disrepair creates an unreasonable risk that performance of the agreement would have prevented, and the landlord fails to exercise reasonable care to perform the contract.
Supporting sources
The President directed federal agencies to ignore a recently enacted statute requiring certain environmental reports. Challengers argued that the directive violated the constitutional command that the executive take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
…the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be imminent. Mental and physical health may be taxed by child care. There is also the distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child, and there is the problem of bringing a child into a family already unable, psychologically and otherwise,…