Reasonable Person (Legally) | MELS LAWS a Legal Buffet

Common Law Concept of Negligence:

Reasonable care – is based on a hypothetical person and not the defendant. 

The legal test is an objective test on how a reasonable person would act. A reasonable person would take precautions against foreseeable risk but not against every every conceivable danger. A reasonalble person considers the likelyhood of harm and the severity of any consequences. A reasonalble person would also adopt affordable precautions to prevent against mishap, accident or injury. Undergo cost-benefit analysis that they would apply.

If the person is an Engineer, Lawyer, Dr or other professional then the reasobale care standard is not applied but a higher standard would apply. A professional is reasonably competent and experienced, whatever level of experience. So even if a person puts themselves forth as being professional or trained in a particular field then they are to be held to the standard of a reasonably competent and experienced Dr or Lawyer etc, but f they have further expertise or specialism then they are held to an even higher standard. If a person is fresh out of law school or recently qualified in a particular field they are still held to the high standard but not as high as a specialist.