To establish negligence and liability, a plaintiff must show duty, breach of duty, _____, and proximate cause.

To establish negligence and liability in a legal context, it is essential for the plaintiff to demonstrate four key elements: duty, breach of duty, damages or injury, and proximate cause. The third element, damages or injury, is crucial because it proves that the breach of duty directly resulted in harm to the plaintiff. Without demonstrating actual damages or injury, the case for negligence cannot stand, even if there was a duty and a breach of that duty.

In negligence cases, damages can encompass a wide range of consequences, including physical injuries, emotional distress, financial losses, or other forms of harm that the plaintiff might have suffered as a direct result of the defendant's actions. Establishing this link between the breach and the resultant injury is vital because it demonstrates not just that something wrong occurred, but that it had real-world effects on the plaintiff. Hence, without damages or injury, the negligence claim lacks foundation.

The other elements listed, such as consent, witness statements, and statutory requirements, do not pertain directly to the establishment of negligence in the same foundational way as damages or injury. They may play important roles in broader legal contexts or in supporting claims, but they do not form part of the core requirements for proving negligence.