Question

Martha was walking down the street when she was suddenly hit on the head by a large frying pan that fell out of the sky. Martha suffered severe head trauma. It was discovered that the frying pan came from a condominium on the 11th floor belonging to Rachel. Rachel had gotten angry at her ruined casserole dish and threw the pan out the window. Which doctrine will best assist Martha in establishing the negligence element of ""breach?""

Answer 1

Answer:

Once you have determined the existence of a duty, you must determine whether or not the defendant has breached his duty. A defendant can breach his duty both by acting in a certain manner or by failing to act in a certain manner. That is to say, a defendant can breach his duty either by acting in a manner that violates the reasonable man test, or by not acting in a situation where he is legally required to act.

That being said, the accident could've been avoided if Rachel had not gotten angry and thrown the frying pan out of the window. She failed to act properly.