Motor Vehicle Litigation

When liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant will then be given the opportunity to respond to the complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed them a duty to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed by everyone, but people who operate vehicles owe an even higher duty to others in their field. This includes ensuring that they do not cause motor vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms evaluate an individual's behavior to what a typical individual would do under similar circumstances to establish what is a reasonable standard of care. In the event of medical malpractice experts are often required. Experts who are knowledgeable in a specific field could also be held to an higher standard of care than other individuals in similar situations.

A breach of a person's obligation of care can cause harm to the victim or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant violated their duty and caused the injury or damages they suffered. Causation is a key element of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the proximate and actual causes of the damage and injury.

For instance, if a person has a red light and is stopped, they will be hit by another car. If their car is damaged they'll be responsible for the repairs. But the actual cause of the accident could be a cut from the brick, which then develops into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty is when the actions of the person who is at fault are not in line with what a normal person would do under similar circumstances.

A doctor, for example is a professional with a range of professional duties towards his patients. These obligations stem from the law of the state and licensing authorities. Motorists owe a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians on the road to drive in a safe manner and adhere to traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty of care and motor Vehicle accident results in an accident, he is responsible for the injury suffered by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable people" standard to establish that there is a duty of prudence and then demonstrate that defendant did not comply with the standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's negligence was the main cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant might have walked through a red light, but that's not the cause of the accident on your bicycle. Causation is often contested in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases the plaintiff must establish that there is a causal connection between the breach by the defendant and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffers a neck injury in a rear-end collision and his or her attorney will argue that the incident was the reason for the injury. Other elements that are required in causing the collision such as being in a stationary vehicle, are not considered to be culpable and therefore do not affect the jury's determination of liability.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between a negligent act and an injured plaintiff's symptoms could be more difficult to establish. It may be because the plaintiff has a rocky past, has a difficult relationship with their parents, or has been a user of alcohol or drugs.

If you have been in a serious motor vehicle accident, it is important to consult with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established relationships with independent physicians with a variety of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle litigation, a plaintiff can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages covers all financial costs that can easily be summed up and summed up into an overall amount, including medical treatments and lost wages, repairs to property, and even future financial loss, such diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages such as suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of living can't be reduced to monetary value. However, these damages must be established to exist by a variety of evidence, such as deposition testimony from the plaintiff's family members and close friends medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve 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 must determine the amount of fault each defendant was responsible for the incident and then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of blame. New York law however, doesn't allow this. 1602 exempts owners of vehicles from the rule of comparative negligence in cases where injuries are caused by drivers of trucks or cars. The analysis to determine whether the presumption is permissive is complicated. The majority of the time there is only a clear proof that the owner was not able to grant permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will be sufficient to overturn the presumption.