What Are the Four Elements of a Negligence Claim in Georgia?
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Duty, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. The Supreme Court of Georgia listed them in those words in SMG Construction Services, LLC v. Cook (2025), a premises case: “As with other varieties of negligence claims”, plaintiffs “must show four elements: duty, breach of that duty, causation, and damages”. Georgia’s apportionment law describes the first three together as “fault”, which, as the Supreme Court explained in Zaldivar v. Prickett (2015), quoted by the Court of Appeals in Transcontinental Carriers v. Bennett (2026), “refers to a breach of a legal duty that a defendant owes with respect to a plaintiff that is a proximate cause of the injury for which the plaintiff now seeks to recover damages”.
Each element, with its Georgia source
| Element | What Georgia law asks | Where it is defined |
|---|---|---|
| Duty | Whether the defendant owed this plaintiff a legal duty of care, such as a landowner's duty to invitees (§ 51-3-1) or a driver's duties under the Rules of the Road | Statute or case law, depending on the relationship |
| Breach | Whether the defendant fell short of the required diligence; for ordinary negligence, the care "exercised by ordinarily prudent persons under the same or similar circumstances" | § 51-1-2 |
| Causation | Both "cause in fact" and "proximate cause" | Reed v. Carolina Casualty Insurance Co. (2014), quoting the Supreme Court in Atlanta Obstetrics & Gynecology Group v. Coleman (1990); §§ 51-12-8, 51-12-9 |
| Damages | Compensable loss: special damages "must be proved in order to be recovered", while general damages are presumed to flow from the tortious act | § 51-12-2 |
How the elements are tested
- Duty is the threshold. If no duty was owed, the other elements are never reached. Premises cases turn on the visitor’s status and the owner’s knowledge; see what you must prove in a Georgia slip-and-fall case.
- Breach is measured against a degree of diligence. Georgia recognizes extraordinary, ordinary, and slight diligence (§§ 51-1-3, 51-1-2, 51-1-4); see the reasonable person standard and ordinary versus gross negligence.
- Causation has two parts. The conduct must have made a difference, and the injury must not be too remote; see proximate cause versus but-for causation.
- Damages must be proved or presumed by law. The categories and how each is proven are covered in economic and noneconomic damages.
Defenses that work against the elements
Even with all four elements, the plaintiff’s own fault reduces or bars recovery under § 51-12-33, and assumption of the risk can bar it entirely. In SMG v. Cook itself, the Supreme Court held that the injured cabinet installer had actual knowledge of the unguarded ledge, one element of the owner’s affirmative defenses, and sent the case back on the rest. See how the 50 percent comparative fault rule works and when assumption of risk bars a claim.
A checklist for any negligence claim
- Who owed you a duty, and what source creates it?
- What did that person do or fail to do, compared with the required diligence?
- What evidence links that conduct to your specific injuries?
- What losses can you document, and which are presumed?
Sources
- SMG Construction Services, LLC v. Cook, 322 Ga. 819 (2025)
- Reed v. Carolina Casualty Insurance Co., 327 Ga. App. 130 (2014)
- Zaldivar v. Prickett, 297 Ga. 589 (2015), as quoted in Transcontinental Carriers, Inc. v. Bennett (Ga. Ct. App. 2026).
- O.C.G.A. §§ 51-1-2, 51-1-3, 51-1-4, 51-12-2, 51-12-8, 51-12-9 (§§ 51-1-2 through 51-1-4, 51-12-8, and 51-12-9 text as published in October 2016 on a mirror site; no amendment recorded in the 2022 to 2026 legislative summaries).
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.