Motor Vehicle Litigation

If liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to make a complaint. The defendant will then be given the chance to respond to the complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. Nearly everyone owes this obligation to everyone else, but those who take the wheel of a motor vehicle have a higher obligation to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes not causing motor vehicle accidents.

In courtrooms, the standard of care is established by comparing the actions of an individual against what a normal individual would do in similar circumstances. In the event of medical negligence experts are often required. People who have superior knowledge in a particular field may be held to the highest standards of care than other individuals in similar situations.

A breach of a person's duty of care could cause injury to a victim or their property. The victim is then required to show that the defendant's infringement of duty caused the harm and damages they suffered. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the primary and secondary causes of the damage and injury.

If someone runs an stop sign and fails to obey the stop sign, they could be struck by a vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be required to pay for repairs. The actual cause of an accident could be a brick cut that causes an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second element of negligence that must be proven to win compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty is when the actions of the at-fault person are insufficient to what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor is a professional with a range of professional duties towards his patients. These professional obligations stem from the law of the state and licensing bodies. Drivers have a duty to take care of other drivers as well as pedestrians, and to follow traffic laws. Drivers who violate this obligation and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

A lawyer can use the "reasonable person" standard to establish the existence of the duty of care and then prove that the defendant did not meet the standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant fulfilled or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty of the defendant was the main cause of the injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have run through a red light, but that's not the cause of the bicycle accident. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff sustained a neck injury from an accident that involved rear-ends the lawyer will claim that the collision caused the injury. Other factors necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and will not affect the jury's determination of the degree of fault.

It can be difficult to establish a causal link between an act of negligence and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. The reality that the plaintiff experienced a a troubled childhood, poor relationship with his or her parents, abused alcohol and drugs, or suffered previous unemployment may have some influence on the severity the psychological issues he or is suffering from following an accident, however, the courts typically consider these factors as an element of the background conditions that caused the accident arose rather than an independent reason for the injuries.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident law firm vehicle accident (vimeo.com) it is essential to consult with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent medical professionals in a range of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages plaintiffs can seek in motor vehicle litigation can include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is all costs that can easily be added up and calculated as the total amount, which includes medical treatments as well as lost wages, repairs to property, or even a future financial loss, for instance loss of 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. However the damages must be proved to exist with the help of extensive evidence, such as deposition testimony of the plaintiff's close friends and family members medical records, other expert witness testimony.

In the event of multiple defendants, courts typically employ comparative fault rules to determine the amount of damages that must be divided between them. The jury must determine the percentage of blame each defendant has for the accident and motor vehicle accident then divide the total amount of damages awarded by that percentage. However, New York law 1602 does not exempt vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in cases where injuries are sustained by the drivers of cars or trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption that permissive use applies is not straightforward and typically only a clear evidence that the owner explicitly was not granted permission to operate the car will overcome it.