Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary when liability is contested. The defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, when a jury finds you to be at fault for an accident the amount of damages you will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. This rule does not apply to the owners of vehicles that are which are rented out or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed the duty of care towards them. This duty is owed to all, but those who operate a vehicle owe an even higher duty to others in their field. This includes not causing bladensburg motor vehicle accident lawsuit vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions to what a typical individual would do in similar conditions to determine an acceptable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. People with superior knowledge in the field could be held to a higher standard of care.

A person's breach of their duty of care may cause injury to a victim or their property. The victim must prove that the defendant's breach of duty caused the damage and injury they sustained. Causation is a key element of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the primary and secondary causes of the damages and injuries.

If a person is stopped at the stop sign, they are likely to be struck by another vehicle. If their car is damaged, they'll need to pay for repairs. The real cause of the crash could be a brick cut which develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty happens when the at-fault party's actions do not match what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor has many professional duties towards his patients. These obligations stem from state law and licensing bodies. Drivers have a duty to be considerate of other drivers and pedestrians, and to follow traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries of the victim.

A lawyer can rely on the "reasonable individuals" standard to demonstrate that there is a duty of care and then show that the defendant failed to meet this standard in his conduct. The jury will decide if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's breach was the primary cause of the plaintiff's injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty and breach. For example, a defendant may have crossed a red light, but it's likely that his or her actions was not the sole cause of your bicycle crash. Causation is often contested in crash cases by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained neck injuries as a result of a rear-end collision and his or her lawyer could argue that the accident caused the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle are not considered to be culpable and will not impact the jury's decision to determine the fault.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between negligence and the victim's afflictions may be more difficult to establish. The fact that the plaintiff has a a troubled childhood, poor relationship with his or her parents, used alcohol and drugs, or suffered previous unemployment may have some influence on the severity the psychological issues he or she suffers after a crash, but the courts typically view these elements as part of the context that caused the accident in which the plaintiff occurred, rather than as an independent cause of the injuries.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident it is crucial to speak with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury cases, business and commercial litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent physicians in a variety of areas of expertise as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations and reconstruction of accident.

Damages

The damages that a plaintiff can recover in a motor vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first category of damages is any monetary costs that can easily be added up and calculated as the sum of medical treatment or lost wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, like suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment can't be reduced to cash. These damages must be established by a wide array of evidence, including depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff, medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts will typically apply the rules of comparative fault to determine the amount of damages that should be divided between them. This requires the jury to determine the amount of fault each defendant was at fault for the accident and to then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage of blame. However, New York law 1602 does not exempt vehicle owners from the rule of comparative negligence in the event of injuries caused by drivers of trucks or Motor Vehicle Accident cars. The process of determining whether the presumption is permissive or not is complicated. Typically, only a clear demonstration that the owner denied permission for the driver to operate the vehicle can be sufficient to overturn the presumption.