Res ipsa loquitur is Latin for “the thing speaks for itself.” It’s one of the more famous “fancy” legal terms, but its meaning is fairly simple: a defendant can be liable for harming a plaintiff by the mere fact that the plaintiff got injured. In essence, it allows a plaintiff to “skip a few steps” when making a negligence claim against the defendant.
How Res Ipsa Loquitur Works Under California Law
If a plaintiff sues a defendant for negligence in California, the plaintiff must typically show four things:
- The defendant had a duty to act (or not act) a certain way;
- The defendant breached that duty;
- The breach of the duty was the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; and
- The plaintiff suffered damages as a result of the defendant’s breach of duty.
When applying the California judicial doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the court is basically saying the plaintiff doesn’t have to complete the first three steps, as the mere fact that the plaintiff got hurt can create an inference that the defendant is liable for the plaintiff’s injuries.
This doesn’t mean a plaintiff can successfully sue by showing injuries and pointing their finger at the defendant. To successfully win a negligence case relying on the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, the plaintiff must use evidence to establish that:
- The accident itself implies negligence because it’s practically impossible for the accident to occur unless a negligent act exists;
- The accident was caused by something under the control of the defendant; and
- The plaintiff didn’t do anything to cause their injuries.
A good way to understand how res ipsa loquitur works is to use an elevator accident as an example.
Example of Res Ipsa Loquitur
Ollie works on the 5th floor of an office building and walks into an elevator. He presses a button to go down to the first floor, but instead of slowly lowering him like normal, the elevator goes into a free fall and crashes onto the ground floor. Ollie suffers injuries as a result of this accident and sues the elevator company for negligence.
Without res ipsa loquitur, Ollie would have to prove the above-referenced four elements of a negligence claim. However, he can skip the first three steps by simply showing that:
- Elevators don’t just free fall unless something went wrong;
- The elevator company was solely responsible for the manufacture, installation, and maintenance of the elevator from the accident; and
- He didn’t do anything to cause the injuries he suffered from the accident.
It might seem like this is still a lot to prove, and res ipsa loquitur simply replaces one legal doctrine with another. However, it makes things a lot easier for Ollie to win his case because he doesn’t have to spend the time and effort to figure out what went wrong with the elevator causing it to free fall.
Depending on what actually went wrong, this could be an extremely time-consuming and expensive investigation (if not impossible). Instead, Ollie can effectively state “the elevator going into a free fall speaks for itself.”
Get Help With Your Negligence Case From Maison Law
Even with the help of the res ipsa loquitur doctrine, it can be challenging to recover money for personal injuries following an accident. Thankfully, there are personal injury lawyers that can help, such as those from Maison Law. Depending on what happened, you might not even have to file a negligence lawsuit. But you won’t know what your options are for recovery unless you contact us to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation and case evaluation. There’s no fee until we win or settle your case.
