Motor Vehicle Litigation

If liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to make a complaint. The defendant is entitled to respond to the Complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence suit the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed them a duty to act with reasonable care. This duty is owed to all people, however those who drive a vehicle owe an even higher duty to other drivers in their field. This includes ensuring that they do not cause car accidents.

Courtrooms examine an individual's conduct to what a typical individual would do under the same conditions to determine reasonable standards of care. Expert witnesses are often required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts who have a greater understanding of a certain field may be held to a greater standard of medical care.

A breach of a person's duty of care could cause injury to a victim or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant's infringement of duty caused the damage and injury they sustained. Causation is an essential element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the proximate and actual causes of the injuries and damages.

If someone is driving through an intersection it is likely that they will be hit by a car. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be accountable for the repairs. The reason for the accident could be a cut in bricks, which later turn into a deadly infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second element of negligence that must be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury suit. 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 instance, has a number of professional duties towards his patients. These professional obligations stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians to drive safely and obey traffic laws. A driver who breaches this duty 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 a duty of care and then prove that the defendant did not meet that standard in his actions. It is a question of fact for the jury to decide if the defendant fulfilled the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also establish that the breach of duty of the defendant was the primary cause of the injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty or breach. For instance an individual defendant could have crossed a red line, but it's likely that his or her actions was not the sole cause of your bicycle crash. Because of this, causation is often contested by the defendants in cases of crash.

Causation

In minneapolis motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck in an accident with rear-end damage the attorney for the plaintiff would argue that the accident caused the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, like being in a stationary vehicle is not culpable and will not affect the jury's decision on the fault.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between an act of negligence and an injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. It could be that the plaintiff has a turbulent past, a poor relationship with their parents, or has used alcohol or drugs.

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

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages is any monetary costs that are easily added to calculate an amount, like medical treatment and lost wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, like diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages like suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment of life, which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. However the damages must be proved to exist through extensive evidence, including deposition testimony from plaintiff's close family members and friends medical records, as well as 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 has to determine the percentage of blame each defendant is responsible 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 sustained by drivers of these vehicles and trucks. The process of determining whether the presumption is permissive or not is complex. The majority of the time there is only a clear proof that the owner refused permission for the driver to operate the vehicle will overrule the presumption.