The Law Dictionary

Your Free Online Legal Dictionary • Featuring Black’s Law Dictionary, 2nd Ed.

CARE Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

As a legal term, this word means diligence, prudence, discretion, attentiveuess, watchfulness, vigilance. It is the opposite of negligence or carelessness. There are three degrees of care in the law, corresponding (Inversely) to the three degrees of negligence, viz.: slight care, ordinary care, and great care. The exact boundaries between the several degrees of care, and their correlative degrees of carelessness, or negligence, are not always clearly defined or easily pointed out. We think, however, that by “ordinary care” is meant that degree of care which may reasonably be expected from a person in the party’s situation,

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