Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when liability is contested. The Defendant has the right to respond to the Complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had the duty of care toward them. Most people owe this duty to everyone else, but individuals who get behind the driving wheel of a motorized vehicle have an even higher duty to other people in their field of activity. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms the quality of care is determined by comparing an individual's conduct with what a typical person would do under similar circumstances. Expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts who have a superior understanding in a particular field can be held to the highest standards of care than others in similar situations.

A breach of a person's duty of care can cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant's infringement of duty caused the harm and damages they sustained. Causation is a key element of any negligence claim. It requires proving both the primary and secondary causes of the damage and injury.

For instance, if a person runs a red stop sign, it's likely that they'll be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they'll be required to pay for repairs. The reason for the crash could be a cut on bricks, which later turn into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proven to win compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty happens when the at-fault party's actions are not in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for example has a variety of professional obligations towards his patients that are derived from the law of the state and licensing bodies. Drivers are required to protect other motorists and pedestrians, and follow traffic laws. If a driver violates this obligation and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to establish the existence of the duty of care and then show that the defendant failed to comply with the standard in his actions. It is a question of fact for the jury to decide if the defendant complied with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's breach was the primary cause of the plaintiff's injuries. This is sometimes more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty or breach. A defendant could have run through a red light but that wasn't what caused the bicycle accident. For this reason, causation is often challenged by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

In Milford sullivan motor vehicle accident law firm Vehicle accident lawyer, Https://vimeo.com/707198990, vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffers neck injuries in an accident that involved rear-end collisions and his or her attorney will argue that the incident caused the injury. Other factors that are essential for the collision to occur, such as being in a stationary car, are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's decision of the liability.

It could be more difficult to establish a causal link between an act of negligence and the plaintiff's psychological problems. It may be the case that the plaintiff has had a difficult past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or has been a user of drugs or alcohol.

If you have been in an accident that is serious to your vehicle it is crucial to speak with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent doctors across a variety of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages is any monetary costs that can be easily added to calculate a sum, such as 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 seek non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment, which cannot be reduced to a monetary amount. The damages must be proven by a wide array of evidence, including depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.

In the event of multiple defendants, courts typically apply the rules of comparative fault to determine the amount of damages that should be divided between them. The jury must determine the amount of fault each defendant carries for the accident and then divide the total amount of damages awarded by the same percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries suffered by driver of the vehicles. The analysis to determine whether the presumption is permissive or not is complicated. In general, only a clear demonstration that the owner refused permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will be sufficient to overturn the presumption.