defective product lawyer austin texas

A cause of action for negligence has three elements: (1) a legal duty; (2) a breach of that duty; and (3) damages proximately resulting from the breach.

Whether the duty exists under a given set of circumstances is a question of law for the court. No legal liability arises if no duty exists. 

To establish proximate causation in a negligence claim, a party must prove both "cause-in-fact" and foreseeability. These elements of proximate causation "cannot be established by mere conjecture, guess, or speculation."  

The test for cause in fact is whether the act or omission was a substantial factor in causing the injury without which the harm would not have occurred. If the defendant's negligence merely furnished a condition that made the injuries possible, there can be no cause in fact.

Foreseeability requires that a person of ordinary intelligence should have anticipated the danger created by a negligent act or omission. The danger of injury is foreseeable if its "general character . . . might reasonably have been anticipated." 

Vasquez v. Southern Tire Mart LLC (Tex. App. - Houston [14th], 2012).