Superseding cause

{
  "id": "MLC-T-LAW-004777",
  "term": "Superseding cause",
  "field": "Law",
  "definition": "An intervening act or event that breaks the chain of causation between a defendant's negligent act and a plaintiff's injury, thereby relieving the defendant of liability. This new, independent cause must be unforeseeable and sufficiently powerful to render the defendant's original negligence no longer a proximate cause of the harm. It is a defense often raised in tort cases.",
  "see_also": [
    "intervening cause"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/law/superseding-cause/"
}