Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated and the liability is disputed, it is necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules which means that in the event that a jury finds you to be at fault for causing an accident the damages awarded will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant owed them a duty to act with reasonable care. The majority of people owe this obligation to everyone else, however those who are behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle accident vehicle have a higher obligation to others in their area of operation. This includes ensuring that they do not cause motor vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions to what a typical individual would do under similar conditions to determine 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 may also be held to the highest standards of care than other people in similar situations.

If a person violates their duty of care, it may cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim has to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and caused the harm or damages they sustained. Causation is an important part of any negligence claim. It involves proving the primary and secondary causes of the injury and damages.

If someone is driving through a stop sign then they are more likely to be hit by a car. If their car is damaged, they'll need to pay for repairs. The cause of an accident could be a brick cut which develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of a party who is at fault do not match what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional duties to his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Drivers are required to protect other motorists and pedestrians, and adhere to traffic laws. When a driver breaches this duty of care and results in an accident, he is liable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable people" standard to demonstrate that there is a duty to be cautious and then demonstrate that defendant did not adhere to this standard in his conduct. It is a matter of fact that the jury has to decide whether the defendant complied with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's negligence was the main cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It can be more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For instance the defendant could have run a red light but his or her action wasn't the proximate cause of your bicycle crash. For this reason, causation is often contested by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

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

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

It is essential to speak with an experienced lawyer if you have been involved in a serious accident. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation, and motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established relationships with independent physicians with a variety of specialties, expert witnesses in accident 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 comprises any financial costs that can easily be added up and motor vehicle accidents calculated as a sum, such as medical expenses loss of wages, property repair and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of living cannot be reduced to money. These damages must be proved through extensive evidence like depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff medical records, depositions, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, Courts will often use the rules of comparative negligence to determine the proportion of damages award should be allocated between them. The jury has to determine the percentage of fault each defendant carries for the incident and then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries suffered by driver of these trucks and cars. The process to determine if the presumption is permissive is complex. Typically it is only a clear evidence that the owner did not grant permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will be sufficient to overturn the presumption.