Motor Vehicle Litigation

When liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to bring a lawsuit. The defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, when a jury finds that you were at fault for an accident, your damages will be reduced according to your percentage of blame. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence suit the plaintiff must show that the defendant was obligated to act with reasonable care. This duty is owed by all people, however those who operate vehicles owe an even higher duty to other people in their field. This includes ensuring that they do not cause accidents with motor vehicle accident attorney vehicles.

In courtrooms the standard of care is established by comparing the actions of an individual with what a typical person would do under similar conditions. In cases of medical malpractice expert witnesses are typically required. Experts with more experience in particular fields may be held to a greater standard of medical care.

When a person breaches their duty of care, they could cause injury to the victim or their property. The victim must show that the defendant's infringement of their duty led to the injury and damages that they suffered. Causation proof is a crucial part of any negligence case and requires looking at both the actual cause of the injury or damages and the proximate cause of the damage or injury.

For instance, if a person has a red light there is a good chance that they will be hit by a vehicle. If their car is damaged they will be responsible for repairs. The actual cause of a crash could be a brick cut that develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

The second aspect of negligence is the breach of duty by an individual defendant. The breach of duty must be proved in order to obtain compensation for personal injury claims. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the party at fault are not in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor has many professional obligations to his patients, which stem from state law and licensing bodies. Motorists owe a duty care to other drivers and pedestrians to drive safely and obey traffic laws. A driver who breaches this duty and creates an accident is accountable for the injuries of the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable persons" standard to establish that there is a duty to be cautious and then demonstrate that defendant did not adhere to this standard with his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty by the defendant was the sole cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It can be more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For example an individual defendant could have run a red light but it's likely that his or her actions was not the sole cause of your bike crash. The issue of causation is often challenged in case of a crash by the defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle-related cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffered neck injuries as a result of a rear-end accident, his or her attorney will argue that the crash was the cause of the injury. Other factors necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car are not culpable and will not impact the jury's decision to determine the cause of the accident.

It can be difficult to establish a causal connection between a negligent act, and the plaintiff's psychological problems. It could be that the plaintiff has a turbulent past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or has abused alcohol or drugs.

If you have been in an accident that is serious to your vehicle it is crucial to speak with a seasoned attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience in representing clients in Motor Vehicle Accident Lawsuits; Cross-Fallesen.Technetbloggers.De, vehicle accidents as well as business and commercial litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have formed relationships with independent physicians in a wide range of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages is all monetary costs which are easily added together and then calculated into a total, for example, medical treatment 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 like suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. These damages must be proved through extensive evidence such as depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In the event of multiple defendants, courts typically employ comparative fault rules to determine the amount of damages to be split between them. The jury must determine how much fault each defendant had for the incident and then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of blame. New York law however, doesn't allow this. 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by the driver of those cars and trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is not straightforward and typically only a convincing evidence that the owner has explicitly was not granted permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.