IL · jury_instructions
Ill. Pattern Jury Instr. (Civil) 15.01
Proximate Cause—Definition and Use
When I use the expression “proximate cause,” I mean a cause that, in the
natural or ordinary course of events, produced the plaintiff's injury. [It need not be the
only cause, nor the last or nearest cause. It is sufficient if it combines with another
cause resulting in the injury.]
[If you decide that a [the] defendant[s] was [were] negligent and that his [their]
negligence was a proximate cause of injury to the plaintiff, it is not a defense that
[something] [or] [someone] else may also have been a cause of the injury. However, if
you decide that the defendant’s conduct was not a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s
injury, then your verdict should be for the defendant.]
Instruction revised August 2021; Notes on Use revised October 2021 and May
2026 and Comment revised October 2021.
Provenance
- Source
- illinoiscourts.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-20
- Edition
- 2026-08-19
- Content hash
6b8e2e0f533ee7874c3731206a31c88fe68c53be6b4fff781b6e20271a226b90
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