You might drive a big rig. Maybe you oversee a warehouse floor. Or perhaps you just own a corner shop and keep things running day to day. Whatever your role, the law expects you to look out for the people who could be affected by your actions. That’s called a duty of care.
If someone gets hurt because you didn’t meet that standard, Maryland law may treat it as negligence, and that can open the door to a personal injury claim. Firms like Price Benowitz Accident Injury Lawyers, LLP, can help you understand your legal options. This article explains how that process works and what you should know before you’re caught off guard.
What Counts as Negligence?
“The law doesn’t punish every accident. What it looks at is whether someone crossed a line. A line that says, ‘This is how a reasonably careful person would’ve handled things.’ That’s where negligence begins,” says Personal Injury Attorney John Yannone of Price Benowitz Accident Injury Lawyers, LLP.
Here are the core tenets of negligence you should be aware of:
- Duty of care: You don’t need legal training to know that leaving a puddle on the floor or forgetting to fix a broken step could get someone hurt. That quiet sense of “I should probably take care of this” isn’t just instinct; it’s the law. When the risk is predictable, and you’re in a position to prevent harm, you have a duty of care. Maryland law treats that duty seriously, especially when someone’s safety is on the line.
- Breach of Duty of Care: Duty of care sets the stage, but it’s the breach that lights the match. Maybe someone noticed a hazard but didn’t fix it. Maybe they were trained to act but froze or shrugged it off. Either way, it’s the moment a preventable risk, like a neglected pothole or a faulty wire, is left to grow, and that’s what the law scrutinizes next. Once the breach happens, the rest of the negligence puzzle starts to fall into place.
- Causation: A breach on its own isn’t enough to prove negligence. For the law to recognize a personal injury claim, there has to be a clear line between what someone failed to do and the harm that followed. If the risk was real, but your injury came from something unrelated, the chain breaks. Without that cause-and-effect link, it doesn’t matter how careless someone was. The case won’t stick.
- Harm: All the legal elements, like duty, breach, and causation, only lead somewhere if you’ve been harmed. That’s the final test. If you slipped on a wet floor but walked away without a scratch, the law sees a risk, not a case. There has to be a real injury, whether it’s physical, emotional, or financial.
Why Proving Negligence Is Tougher in Maryland
Personal injury law isn’t the same everywhere. What wins in one state might fall apart in another. That’s because each state sets its own rules about how fault is shared, how compensation is decided, and what role negligence plays. Maryland follows a legal framework that’s tougher than most, and if you’ve been injured here, that difference matters more than you might think.
Maryland still uses something called contributory negligence. It’s one of the strictest standards in the country. Under this rule, if you’re found even 1% at fault for your injury, you could be completely barred from receiving any compensation. Let’s say you slipped on a wet floor at a grocery store, but you were looking at your phone while walking. Even if the store was mostly to blame, the defense could argue that our distraction contributed to the fall. And in Maryland? That might be enough to end your case before it even begins.
The Importance of Working With a Lawyer
Maryland’s contributory negligence rule leaves almost no room for error. You could have a strong case, solid facts, and a legitimate injury, but if you miss one detail or say the wrong thing to an insurance adjuster, it could all fall apart. This isn’t the kind of thing you want to DIY.
A personal injury lawyer knows the traps, the timelines, and the tactics used to avoid payouts. They’ll assist you in collecting the right evidence, presenting your story clearly, and safeguarding your claim from being undermined by technicalities.
Conclusion
Getting hurt doesn’t automatically mean you have a case in Maryland. The law requires proof of duty, breach, causation, and harm. And with the state’s strict contributory negligence rule, even a small misstep on your part could cost you everything. If you’ve been injured and believe someone else is at fault, don’t navigate this alone. Speaking with a knowledgeable attorney can help you understand where you stand and what options you have moving forward.
