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Torts • Negligence
TORT#048
Legal Definition
Where several causes (joint causes) bring about an injury, and any one alone would have been sufficient to cause the harm, a defendant's conduct is the cause in fact if it was a substantial factor in causing the injury.
Plain English Explanation
Imagine going camping in between two idiots who negligently create camp fires that end up burning down the entire campground. All of your stuff is burned, but who do you blame? Applying the general "but for" test here won't work, because either individual fire was sufficient and capable of burning down the campground all by itself. The law cares about you recovering for your damages, not about forcing you to prove specifically whose fire was first to reach your stuff, and what percent of your burned property can be attributed to which fire.
For this reason, courts allow juries to decide that a defendant was the cause of the plaintiff's harm if their actions were a substantial factor in causing the injury.
For this reason, courts allow juries to decide that a defendant was the cause of the plaintiff's harm if their actions were a substantial factor in causing the injury.
Visual Aids
Related Concepts
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