Law School Case Briefs
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Brown v. Kendall
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1850) | 60 Mass. 292; 6 Allen 292
TL;DR: A man attempting to break up a dog fight with a stick accidentally struck a bystander. The court ruled he is only liable if he failed to exercise ordinary care, establishing that the plaintiff must prove the defendant's negligence to recover for an unintentional injury.
Legal Significance: This landmark case established the modern fault-based negligence standard for unintentional torts in American law, shifting the burden of proof to the plaintiff to demonstrate that the defendant failed to exercise ordinary care.