Res ipsa loquitur allows negligence to be inferred where the injury is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur absent negligence, the instrumentality was within the defendant's exclusive control, and the plaintiff did not contribute to the harm.
It permits the case to reach the jury without direct evidence of the specific negligent act.
Alternative Names:
Res Ipsa, The Thing Speaks for Itself
Why it Matters?
The doctrine matters most where the plaintiff cannot identify what went wrong, classically a surgical instrument left in a patient or an object falling from a building. Defense arguments target the exclusive control element, which is difficult to establish where multiple parties handled the instrumentality, and the ordinary experience element, which fails where the outcome is a known complication occurring without negligence. In medical cases it is narrowly applied.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What are the elements of res ipsa loquitur?
Does it shift the burden of proof?
