Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated in court, it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant will then have the opportunity to respond to the complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. Almost everybody owes this duty to everyone else, however those who take the driving wheel of a motorized vehicle are obligated to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicle accident vehicles.

In courtrooms the standard of care is established by comparing an individual's actions against what a normal individual would do in similar circumstances. In cases of medical malpractice experts are often required. People with superior knowledge in a certain field may be held to a greater standard of treatment.

If a person violates their duty of care, it can cause injury 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 sustained. Causation is an essential element of any negligence claim. It involves proving the actual and proximate causes of the damage and injury.

For instance, if a person has a red light and is stopped, they'll be hit by a car. If their vehicle is damaged, they will have to pay for the repairs. However, the real cause of the accident could be a cut on the brick, which then develops into a dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty happens when the actions of the person at fault are not in line with what an average person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for example has many professional obligations towards his patients. These professional obligations stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Drivers have a duty to protect other motorists and pedestrians, and to adhere to traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty and results in an accident is responsible for the injuries of the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable persons" standard to show that there is a duty of prudence and then show that defendant did not adhere to the standard in his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's negligence was the sole cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is 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 crash on your bicycle. The issue of causation is often challenged in a crash case by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases the plaintiff must prove an causal link between breach of the defendant and their injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends, his or her lawyer might claim that the collision caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary in causing the collision like being in a stationary vehicle are not considered to be culpable and therefore do not affect the jury's decision of the liability.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between negligence and the injured plaintiff's symptoms could be more difficult to establish. It could be the case that the plaintiff has a rocky background, a strained relationship with their parents, or has used alcohol or drugs.

It is essential to speak with an experienced lawyer in the event that you've been involved in a serious car accident. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have extensive experience in representing clients in motor vehicle accidents commercial and business litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent physicians in a range of specialties and expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In anchorage motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could get both economic and anchorage motor vehicle accident lawyer non-economic damages. The first type of damages comprises any financial expenses that can be easily added to calculate the sum of medical expenses, lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses, like diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages, including the suffering of others and the loss of enjoyment, which cannot be reduced to a monetary amount. These damages must be established through extensive evidence such as depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff, medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve multiple defendants, Courts will often use rules of comparative negligence to determine how much of the total damages award should be allocated between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant was at fault for the accident and to then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of the fault. However, New York law 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries sustained by drivers of the vehicles. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is not straightforward, and typically only a clear showing that the owner was explicitly refused permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.