Liability is an interesting thing, a series of invisible relationships that we do not have in mind every day.

A landslide caused by recent rains caused a mountain to slide, affecting vehicular traffic and delaying the flow of goods -some of which perished-, an ambulance was unable to reach its destination and one person died, and a house collapsed after the mountain slid.

Although it looks like a novel setting, and there is a suspect «the usual in our latitudes «the rain»-, it is not the rain who pays the bill for the effects, surely there is someone else.

The family of the house that collapsed is looking for a responsible party to repair the damages, they ask themselves, was there negligence on the part of whom? designed and built the house? the government authorities have any responsibility since the classification of the zone determined that it was a safe zone?was it a consequence of a situation of force majeure due to rain? are we covered by the company’s liability insurance? who was responsible for the mountain being stable?

Someone has to pay the bill – the damages, losses, etc. – and to do so, you have to navigate your way through this liability issue, starting with the basic questions: Who had any obligation? – what the law says, what the law says, how the parties approached their obligations, -with diligence, prudence, expertise, or not?-, what the law says, how the parties approached their obligations, -with diligence, prudence, expertise, or not?

It is a fascinating topic to develop, especially in a civilized society where everyone must take responsibility for what they are responsible for.