Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary when liability is contested. The defendant is entitled to respond to the Complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff must show that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed by everyone, but people who operate vehicles owe an even greater duty to other drivers in their field. This includes ensuring that they do not cause accidents with motor vehicles.

In courtrooms, the standard of care is determined by comparing the actions of an individual with what a normal person would do in the same conditions. In cases of medical malpractice experts are typically required. People who have superior knowledge in a particular field may be held to an higher standard of care than other people in similar situations.

A breach of a person's obligation of care can cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim is then required to show that the defendant's infringement of their duty caused the injury and damages that they sustained. Causation is an essential element of any negligence claim. It involves proving the proximate and actual causes of the injuries and damages.

If someone runs an stop sign then they are more likely to be hit by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they will have to pay for the repairs. However, the real cause of the accident could be a cut on a brick that later develops into a serious infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the person at fault are insufficient to what a normal person would do under similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional duties to his patients based on laws of the state and licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians on the road to drive safely and obey traffic laws. If a driver violates this obligation of care and causes an accident, he is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care, and then prove that the defendant did not meet that standard in his actions. It is a matter of fact that the jury has to decide if the defendant met the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty of the defendant was the primary cause for 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 what caused the accident on your bicycle. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In Folcroft motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and their injuries. For example, if the plaintiff suffered neck injuries as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer could argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary to produce the collision, such as being in a stationary car, are not culpable and do not affect the jury's determination of liability.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between a negligent act and an affected plaintiff's symptoms can be more difficult to establish. It may be that the plaintiff has a rocky past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or is a user of alcohol or Bowling green motor vehicle accident law firm drugs.

It is important to consult an experienced lawyer should you be involved in a serious fort smith motor vehicle accident lawsuit accident. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience in representing clients in south pasadena motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle accidents, commercial and business litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent physicians in a range of specialties, expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a person can seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages includes any monetary expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as a sum, such as medical treatment loss of wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment, cannot be reduced to monetary value. These damages must be proved through extensive evidence like depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts will typically use the comparative fault rule to determine the amount of total damages to be divided between them. The jury must determine the degree of fault each defendant was responsible for the accident and then divide the total damages award by that percentage of the fault. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries suffered by driver of these vehicles and trucks. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is complex, and typically only a clear evidence that the owner has explicitly denied permission to operate the vehicle will overcome it.