Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary in cases where liability is challenged. The Defendant will then have the chance to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that if a jury finds you to be responsible for an accident the damages you incur will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. There is a slight exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes the owners of vehicles that are which are rented or leased by minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed them a duty to act with reasonable care. This duty is due to everyone, but those who operate vehicles owe an even greater obligation to others in their field. This includes not causing accidents with motor vehicles.

Courtrooms examine an individual's conduct with what a normal person would do under similar circumstances to determine a reasonable standard of care. In the event of medical malpractice experts are typically required. Experts who are knowledgeable in a specific field could also be held to the highest standards of care than other individuals in similar situations.

A person's breach of their duty of care can cause harm to the victim or their property. The victim must then prove that the defendant's breach of their duty caused the harm and damages they have suffered. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the proximate and actual causes of the damages and injuries.

If a person is stopped at an stop sign then they are more likely to be hit by a car. If their car is damaged they'll be accountable for the repairs. However, the real cause of the crash could be a cut on bricks, which later turn 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 in order to receive compensation in a personal injury claim. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the person who is at fault fall short of what a normal person would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor is required to perform a number of professional duties for his patients that are governed by state law and licensing boards. Drivers have a duty to care for other drivers and pedestrians, and adhere to traffic laws. If a motorist violates this duty of care and creates an accident, he is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable people" standard to demonstrate that there is a duty of caution and then demonstrate that defendant failed to meet this standard in his conduct. It is a question of fact that the jury has to decide if the defendant fulfilled the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the breach 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. A defendant may have run through a red light but that's not the cause of the accident on your bicycle. Because of this, causation is often contested by the defendants in cases of crash.

Causation

In Motor vehicle accident lawyers vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. If a plaintiff suffers a neck injury in a rear-end collision then his or her attorney would argue that the collision caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary for the collision to occur, such as being in a stationary vehicle, are not considered to be culpable and therefore do not affect the jury's decision of the liability.

It can be difficult to establish a causal relationship between a negligent act and the psychological issues of the plaintiff. The fact that the plaintiff suffered from a an uneasy childhood, a bad relationship with their parents, abused alcohol and drugs or prior unemployment could have a impact on the severity of the psychological problems he or is suffering from following a crash, but the courts typically consider these factors as part of the context that caused the accident resulted rather than an independent cause of the injuries.

It is important to consult an experienced lawyer in the event that you've been involved in a serious motor accident. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation, as well as motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent medical professionals across a variety of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident attorneys vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may get both economic and non-economic damages. The first category of damages comprises any financial costs that are easily added up and calculated as the sum of medical treatment, lost wages, property repair, motor vehicle accident lawyers and even future financial losses like a diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages, such as the suffering of others and the loss of enjoyment of life, which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. The damages must be proven with a large amount of evidence, such as depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff medical records, depositions, or other expert witness testimony.

In the event of multiple defendants, courts will typically use the comparative fault rule to determine the amount of damages that must be divided between them. The jury has to determine the amount of fault each defendant carries for the incident and then divide the total damages awarded by the percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by the driver of these vehicles and trucks. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness is applicable is a bit nebulous and usually only a clear evidence that the owner explicitly was not granted permission to operate the vehicle will overcome it.