Defenses and Affirmative Defenses
Liability Defenses
A superseding cause is an intervening act sufficiently unforeseeable and independent that it becomes the legal cause of the harm, cutting off the original defendant's liability.
Foreseeable intervening causes do not supersede.
Alternative Names:
Supervening Cause, Superseding Intervening Cause
Why it Matters?
Foreseeability is the entire analysis, and the defense fails where the intervening act was a foreseeable consequence of the original negligence, which is why medical negligence following an injury rarely supersedes. Criminal acts by third parties are the strongest candidates, though foreseeability defeats even those where prior incidents established notice. Framing the argument around what a reasonable person would have anticipated is more productive than characterizing the act as independent.
Frequently Confused with
Frequently asked questions
What makes an intervening cause superseding?
Do criminal acts supersede?
