There are two major areas of tort liability for unintentional harm to others: liability for the tort of negligence and liability without fault. Negligence is defined as the failure to exercise due care when there is a foreseeable risk of harm to others. To recover damages in a lawsuit for negligence, the plainyiff must prove four elements: (1) the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, (2) the defendant faileci to exercise due care, (3) the plaintiff suffered actual loss or damage,and (4) the defendant s negligence caused the plain-tiff s injury