414.4 Legal Cause

414.4 Legal Cause [a. Legal cause generally:] A party's conduct is a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] if it directly and in natural and continuous sequence produces or contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage], so that it can reasonably be said that, but for the conduct, the [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] would not have occurred. [b. Concurring cause:] In order to be regarded as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] the conduct need not be the only cause. A party's conduct may be a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] even though it operates in combination with some other cause if the conduct contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage]. [c. Intervening cause:] [* In order to be regarded as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage], a party's conduct need not be its only cause.] A party's conduct may also be a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] even though it operates in combination with [the act of another] [some natural cause] [or] [some other cause] occurring after the party's conduct occurs if [such other cause was itself reasonably foreseeable and the party's conduct contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage]] [or] [the resulting [loss] [injury] [or] [damage]] was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the party's conduct and the party's conduct contributes substantially to producing it.] [* Do not use the bracketed first sentence if this charge is preceded by the charge on concurring cause.]