Court of Appeals Reaffirms No Liability Without Duty Even If Tragic Loss Case

It is well established that the first thing a plaintiff must prove, in order to proceed with a negligence claim, is duty. As our Supreme Court noted in Fultz v Union-Commerce Assoc, 470 Mich 460 (2004), “[i]t is axiomatic that there can be no tort liability unless defendants owed a duty to plaintiff.” Duty requires the defendant to conform to a specific standard of conduct in order to protect others against unreasonable risks of harm….