Opinion ID: 1686840
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the lower court err in its ruling as to the testimony in relation to the duties and standards of care of the defendant surveyor McDonald?

Text: Surveyors may be liable in tort for failure to skillfully discharge their contractual obligation. Essex v. Ryan, 446 N.E.2d 368 (Ind. App. 1983). A surveyor is required to exercise that degree of care which a surveyor of ordinary skill and prudence would exercise under similar circumstances. R.H. Bowman Assoc., Inc. v. Danskin, 72 Misc.2d 244, 338 N.Y.S.2d 224, aff'd, 43 A.D.2d 621, 349 N.Y.S.2d 655 (1972). Defendant McDonald's jury instruction No. 5 reads: The court instructs the jury that in order for the McKinnons to recover any amount from defendant T.E. McDonald, Inc., the McKinnons must prove by a preponderance of credible evidence not only that T.E. McDonald, Inc. made a mistake in preparing the survey provided to the McKinnons but also that the mistake constituted negligence. Negligence means the failure to use that degree of care which the law requires of a person in a similar situation and under similar circumstances as involved in this case. T.E. McDonald, Inc. need only to have possessed and to have exercised that degree of skill and care of surveyors engaging in the practice of surveying in the Jackson, Mississippi area in December, 1978, under the same or similar circumstances as the engagement of T.E. McDonald, Inc. by the McKinnons in this case. The McKinnons claim the giving of instruction DM-5 was error because it differentiated mistake from negligence and it imposed a locality rule applied to surveyors. The McKinnons further claim error in the court's refusal to give plaintiffs' instructions 14, 16, and 19. All three instructions referred to Mr. McDonald's mistake as negligence as a matter of law. The Court holds the trial judge committed no error regarding the aforementioned jury instructions. Instruction DM-5 told the jury that Mr. McDonald's mistake must have resulted from the failure to use that degree of care which the law requires... . It seems clear that without a failure to comply with the applicable standard of care, there could be no breach of duty and consequently no negligence. As for the McKinnons' argument concerning the alleged imposition of the locality rule, this Court agrees with the appellees that it is misplaced. There was no suggestion that the standard of care for surveyors in other locations was any different than in Jackson, Mississippi. The language apparently directed the jury to compare Mr. McDonald's degree of skill and care with that of others similarly situated. The Court finds no error in this assignment.