Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated, it becomes necessary to bring a lawsuit. The Defendant will then have the chance to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules and, when a jury finds you to be the cause of the accident the amount of damages awarded will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. There is an exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes the owners of vehicles that are rented or leased by minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case the plaintiff must show that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed to everyone, but people who operate a vehicle owe an even higher duty to others in their field. This includes ensuring that there are no accidents in cambridge motor vehicle accident law firm vehicles.

In courtrooms the standards of care are determined by comparing an individual's actions with what a typical person would do under similar situations. In the case of medical malpractice experts are often required. People with superior knowledge in specific fields could be held to a higher standard of care.

If a person violates their duty of care, they could cause damage to the victim as well as their property. The victim is then required to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and caused the harm or damage that they suffered. Proving causation is an essential aspect of any negligence case and involves looking at both the actual basis of the injury or damages and the proximate reason for the damage or injury.

If someone is driving through an intersection it is likely that they will be hit by a car. If their car is damaged, they'll have to pay for the repairs. But the actual cause of the crash could be a cut on the brick, which then develops into a dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty occurs when the at-fault party's actions aren't in line with what an average person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance has many professional obligations to his patients. These obligations stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Drivers are obliged to protect other motorists and pedestrians, as well as to respect traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty and results in an accident is responsible for the injuries sustained by the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable individuals" standard to prove that there is a duty of caution and then show that defendant failed to meet the standard in his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty by the defendant was the proximate cause of the injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have driven through a red light, but that's not the cause of the accident on your bicycle. Causation is often contested in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle accidents, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the breach of the defendant and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained neck injuries as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer would argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other factors that contributed to the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable and won't affect the jury’s determination of the cause of the accident.

It is possible to prove a causal link between an act of negligence and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. The fact that the plaintiff had an unhappy childhood, a poor relationship with their parents, experimented with alcohol and drugs or prior unemployment could have a impact on the severity of the psychological issues suffers from following a crash, but the courts typically consider these factors as part of the context that caused the accident was triggered, not as a separate reason for the injuries.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident, it is important to speak with a seasoned attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in venice motor vehicle accident law firm vehicle accident, commercial and business litigation, and personal injury cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent medical professionals with a variety of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In layton motor vehicle accident lawsuit vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages covers any monetary expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as an amount, like medical expenses loss of wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages like the suffering of others and the loss of enjoyment of life, which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. However the damages must be established to exist by a variety of evidence, such as deposition testimony of the plaintiff's close family members and friends medical records, deposition testimony, and other expert witness testimony.

In cases involving multiple defendants, Courts will often use the rules of comparative negligence to determine the percentage of damages awarded should be split between them. The jury must determine how much fault each defendant was at fault for the accident and to then divide the total damages award by that percentage of blame. New York law however, does not permit this. 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule in relation to injuries sustained by drivers of these vehicles and trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is complicated and usually only a convincing evidence that the owner explicitly denied permission to operate the vehicle will overcome it.