Motor Vehicle Litigation

If liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to bring a lawsuit. The Defendant has the right to respond to the Complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules, which means that if the jury finds you responsible for an accident the damages awarded will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. This rule does not apply to the owners of vehicles that are rented out or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence suit the plaintiff must show that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed to all people, however those who operate a vehicle have an even greater duty to others in their field. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

Courtrooms evaluate an individual's behavior to what a typical individual would do in similar circumstances to establish what is reasonable standards of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts with a higher level of expertise in a particular field may be held to a higher standard of care than other individuals in similar situations.

A person's breach of their duty of care may cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim must then demonstrate that the defendant's violation of duty caused the damage and injury they sustained. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proving both the actual and proximate causes of the injury and damages.

If someone runs an stop sign then they are more likely to be struck by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll need to pay for repairs. However, the real cause of the crash might be a cut or the brick, which then develops into a serious infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the person who is at fault are not in line with what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.

For instance, a physician has several professional duties to his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Drivers are required to care for other drivers as well as pedestrians, and to adhere to traffic laws. A driver who breaches this obligation and creates an accident is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer can use "reasonable people" standard to establish that there is a duty of care and then prove that the defendant did not comply with this standard with his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant fulfilled or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's breach was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have driven through a red light, but that wasn't what caused the bicycle accident. The issue of causation is often challenged in case of a crash by the defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle Accident law firm vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained a neck injury from a rear-end collision the lawyer might argue that the collision caused the injury. Other factors that are needed to cause the collision, such as being in a stationary car, are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's determination of liability.

It could be more difficult to establish a causal connection between a negligent act and the psychological issues of the plaintiff. It could be that the plaintiff has a troubled past, a poor relationship with their parents, or is a user of drugs or alcohol.

It is important to consult an experienced lawyer when you've been involved in a serious accident. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation, and motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle crash cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent doctors in a range of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may get both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages comprises any financial expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as an amount, like medical treatment or lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses like a decrease in earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment of life, which cannot be reduced to a monetary amount. The proof of these damages is through extensive evidence such as depositions from family members and motor Vehicle accident Law firm friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, Courts will often use the rules of comparative negligence to determine how much of the total damages awarded should be split between them. This requires the jury to determine the amount of fault each defendant incurred in the accident and then divide the total damages award by that percentage of the fault. New York law however, does not allow for this. 1602 does not exempt vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in cases where injuries are sustained by drivers of trucks or cars. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is complicated and typically only a convincing evidence that the owner was explicitly refused permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.