Overview
In tort law, a defendant is only liable for damages that they caused, whether intentionally or through negligence. This requires a definition of when action A causes event B.
Types of Cause
- Cause in Fact - a cause is a cause in fact of an event if it is the actual cause of the event. Typically this is interpreted to mean that the if the cause had not happened, the event in question would not have happened. This is colloquially called the direct cause.
- Proximate Cause - is a cause that is linked by a chain of events to the event in question. That is, if A causes B, and B causes C, then A is the proximate cause of C.