Intervening Cause Legal Meaning and Definition

Here is a simplified definition of the legal term Intervening Cause.

Intervening Cause (noun)

An Intervening Cause is an event or action that happens after a person's initial wrongful act, but before the harmful effect on another person, creating a break in the chain of causality. This break can potentially protect the wrongdoer from full liability if the intervening event cannot be reasonably foreseen. The court only accepts those unforeseeable intervening causes as potential defense.