Motor Vehicle Litigation
A lawsuit is necessary when the liability is being contested. The defendant is entitled to respond to the Complaint.
New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that in the event that a jury determines that you were at fault for an accident, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. There is an exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles that are rented or leased to minors.
Duty of Care
In a lawsuit for negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant was obligated to act with reasonable care. This duty is due to all people, however those who operate a vehicle owe an even higher duty to other drivers in their field. This includes ensuring that they don’t cause accidents in kuna Motor vehicle accident law firm vehicles.
Courtrooms evaluate an individual’s behavior to what a typical individual would do in similar circumstances to determine what constitutes a reasonable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are often required when cases involve medical malpractice. Experts who have a greater understanding of particular fields may be held to a greater standard of treatment.
A person’s breach of their obligation of care can cause injury to a victim or their property. The victim has to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and caused the injury or damage that they suffered. Causation proof is a crucial element in any negligence case and requires looking at both the actual reason for the injury or damages as well as the reason for the damage or injury.
For example, if someone runs a red light and is stopped, they’ll be hit by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they’ll need to pay for repairs. The cause of an accident could be a fracture in the brick that leads to an infection.
Breach of Duty
A defendant’s breach of duty is the second element of negligence that must be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty happens when the actions of the party at fault aren’t in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.
For example, a doctor is required to perform a number of professional duties for his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Drivers are bound to take care of other drivers and pedestrians, as well as to obey traffic laws. If a driver fails to comply with this duty of care and results in an accident, the driver is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.
Lawyers can rely on the “reasonable person” standard to establish the existence of the duty of care, and then show that the defendant failed to meet that standard in his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standard.
The plaintiff must also establish that the defendant’s breach of duty was the primary cause for the injuries. This is sometimes more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty or breach. For example, a defendant may have been a motorist who ran a red light, but it’s likely that his or her actions wasn’t the main cause of the crash. Because of this, the causation issue is often contested by defendants in crash cases.
Causation
In cedar hills motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal link between the defendant’s breach of duty and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained a neck injury from a rear-end collision the lawyer might argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are essential to produce the collision, such as being in a stationary car, are not culpable and will not affect the jury’s decision of the liability.
It may be harder to establish a causal link between a negligent action and the plaintiff’s psychological symptoms. It may be that the plaintiff has a rocky background, a strained relationship with their parents, or has used drugs or alcohol.
It is crucial to consult an experienced attorney when you’ve been involved in a serious car accident. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation, and olive branch motor vehicle accident lawsuit vehicle crash cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent doctors in different areas of expertise as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations as well as reconstruction of accidents.
Damages
In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages covers any monetary expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as a sum, such as medical treatment or lost 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 cannot be reduced to financial value. These damages must be proved through extensive evidence like depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.
In the event of multiple defendants, courts often use comparative fault rules to determine the amount of total damages to be split between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant had for the incident and then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage of blame. New York law however, does not allow for this. 1602 does not exempt vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in the event of injuries sustained by drivers of trucks or cars. The method of determining if the presumption is permissive or not is complex. In general it is only a clear evidence that the owner was not able to grant permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will be sufficient to overturn the presumption.