You may hear or might have heard the term negligence or that someone was negligent.  While in everyday non-legal terms it means one thing, the use of the word negligence in the legal world has specific legal ramifications. 

Negligence is a type of tort (i.e., injury) committed by a person or entity which breaches the legal standard protecting individuals against forseeably risky, harmful acts of other members of society. Negligent behavior towards others gives them rights to be compensated for the harm to their body or property.

Such a person or entity (typically the defendant) is negligent as a matter of law if the party alleging negligence (typically the plaintiff) can proves that (1) the defendant must have had a duty of care towards the plaintiff; (2) the defendant must have breached that duty; (3) there must be a factual causal connection between the breach and the harm; and, (4) the injury or harm must not be too remote a consequence of the breach.