Motor Vehicle Litigation

When liability is contested and the liability is disputed, it is necessary to bring a lawsuit. The Defendant will then have the chance 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 fault. This rule is not applicable to the owners of vehicles that are that are leased or Motor Vehicle Accident Attorneys rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence suit the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed them a duty to exercise reasonable care. This duty is due to all people, however those who operate vehicles owe an even greater duty to other people in their field. This includes not causing accidents in Motor vehicle accident Attorneys vehicles.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions to what a typical person would do under the same circumstances to establish what is a reasonable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts who are knowledgeable in a particular field can be held to an higher standard of care than other people in similar situations.

If a person violates their duty of care, they could cause injury to the victim or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant's infringement of duty caused the harm and damages they have suffered. Causation proof is a crucial part of any negligence case and involves investigating both the primary reason for the injury or damages as well as the cause of the damage or injury.

If a driver is caught running an stop sign then they are more likely to be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they will need to pay for repairs. But the actual cause of the accident could be a cut from bricks, which later turn into a serious infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second element of negligence that must be proven to win compensation in a personal injury claim. A breach of duty happens when the at-fault party's actions aren't in line with what an average person would do in similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor has several professional obligations to his patients, arising from state law and licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians on the road to be safe and follow traffic laws. If a driver violates this obligation of care and creates an accident, he is responsible for the victim's injuries.

A lawyer can use the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of a duty of care and then show that the defendant failed to satisfy the standard through his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standard.

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. A defendant could have run through a red light but that's not the cause of the accident on your bicycle. This is why causation is frequently disputed by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained a neck injury from a rear-end collision and his or her lawyer will argue that the accident caused the injury. Other elements that are required to produce the collision, like being in a stationary vehicle, are not culpable and do not affect the jury's determination of liability.

It may be harder to establish a causal relationship between a negligent act and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. It may be because the plaintiff has a turbulent background, a strained relationship with their parents, or has abused drugs or alcohol.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident It is imperative to speak with a seasoned attorney. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation, and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent medical professionals with a variety of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident lawyers vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages covers any monetary costs that can be easily added up and calculated as a total, for example, medical treatment or lost wages, property repair and even future financial losses, like a diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, cannot be reduced to monetary value. The proof of these damages is with a large amount of evidence, such as depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts typically apply the rules of comparative fault to determine the amount of total damages to be split between them. The jury must determine how much fault each defendant was responsible for the accident and then divide the total damages award by that percentage of blame. However, motor vehicle accident Attorneys New York law 1602 excludes vehicle owners from the rule of comparative negligence in cases where injuries are caused by drivers of trucks or cars. The method of determining if the presumption is permissive or not is complicated. The majority of the time the only way to prove that the owner refused permission for the driver to operate the vehicle will be sufficient to overturn the presumption.