Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary when the liability is being 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 responsible for an accident the damages you incur will be reduced according to your percentage of blame. There is a caveat to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles that are rented or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed the duty of care toward them. Nearly everyone owes this obligation to everyone else, however those who are behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle accident law firm vehicle have an even higher duty to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes ensuring that they don't cause motor vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms examine an individual's conduct with what a normal person would do in similar conditions to determine a reasonable standard of care. In the case of medical malpractice experts are typically required. Experts who have a greater understanding of the field could be held to a higher standard of treatment.

When a person breaches their duty of care, they could cause injury to the victim or their property. The victim is then required to show that the defendant violated their duty and caused the harm or damage they sustained. Proving causation is a critical element in any negligence case and involves looking at both the actual cause of the injury or damages and the proximate reason for the damage or injury.

If someone is driving through the stop sign then they are more likely to be struck by a vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be accountable for repairs. The reason for a crash could be a fracture in the brick that leads to an infection.

Breach of Duty

The second aspect of negligence is the breach of duty by the defendant. It must be proven in order to receive compensation for a personal injury claim. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the person who is at fault are insufficient to what an ordinary person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients that are governed by state law and licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians to be safe and follow traffic laws. A driver who breaches this duty and results in an accident is responsible for the injuries sustained by the victim.

Lawyers can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of a duty of care and then show that the defendant did not comply with the standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standard.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach by the defendant was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty or breach. For example, a defendant may have crossed a red light, but it's likely that his or her actions was not the primary cause of your bike crash. The issue of causation is often challenged in case of a crash by the defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must prove an causal link between breach of the defendant and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffers neck injuries in an accident with rear-end damage then his or her attorney will argue that the crash caused the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, like being in a stationary car are not considered to be culpable and will not affect the jury's determination of the cause of the accident.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between negligence and the victim's afflictions may be more difficult to establish. It could be because the plaintiff has a troubled past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or has abused drugs or alcohol.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident it is crucial to consult an experienced attorney. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed relationships with independent physicians in a wide range of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages includes any monetary expenses that can be easily added to calculate an amount, like medical expenses or lost wages, property repair and even future financial losses such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of living cannot be reduced to cash. The damages must be proven with a large amount of evidence, such as depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff medical records, depositions, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve multiple defendants, Courts will often use the rules of comparative negligence to determine the percentage of damages awarded should be divided between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant was responsible for the accident and then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of fault. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by the driver of these vehicles and trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage is applicable is a bit nebulous, and typically only a clear evidence that the owner specifically refused permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.