Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when the liability is being contested. The Defendant will then have the chance to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules and, should a jury find you to be at fault for causing the crash the damages awarded to you will be reduced by your percentage of negligence. This rule does not apply to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff must show that the defendant was bound by the duty of care toward them. Nearly everyone owes this obligation to everyone else, however those who are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle have an even higher duty to other people in their field of operation. This includes ensuring that they don't cause car accidents.

In courtrooms, the standards of care are determined by comparing an individual's actions with what a normal person would do under similar circumstances. Expert witnesses are often required in cases involving medical negligence. Experts with a superior understanding of specific fields could be held to a higher standard of medical care.

A person's breach of their duty of care could cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant's infringement of their duty led to the injury and damages that they sustained. Causation is an important part of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the proximate and real causes of the injuries and damages.

If someone runs an intersection and fails to obey the stop sign, they could be hit by another vehicle. If their car is damaged they'll be accountable for repairs. But the actual cause of the accident could be a cut or bricks that later develop into a serious infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proven to win compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of a party who is at fault do not match what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional obligations to his patients, arising from the law of the state and licensing boards. Drivers are bound to take care of other drivers as well as pedestrians, and to adhere to traffic laws. Any driver who fails to adhere to this duty and results in an accident is responsible for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care and then prove that the defendant failed to meet that standard in his actions. It is a matter of fact that the jury has to decide whether the defendant was in compliance with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the breach by the defendant was the direct 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 crash on your bicycle. Causation is often contested in case of a crash by the defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between breach of the defendant and their injuries. If the plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck in an accident with rear-end damage, his or her attorney would argue that the accident was the cause of the injury. Other factors that are essential to produce the collision, like being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's decision of the liability.

It can be difficult to establish a causal connection between a negligent act, and the plaintiff's psychological symptoms. The fact that the plaintiff has a a troubled childhood, poor relationship with his or her parents, abused alcohol and drugs or prior unemployment could have a impact on the severity of the psychological issues she suffers after an accident, but courts typically look at these factors as an element of the background conditions from which the plaintiff's accident resulted rather than an independent cause of the injuries.

If you have been in an accident involving a Motor Vehicle Accident Attorneys vehicle that was serious It is imperative to consult an experienced attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle accidents commercial and business litigation, and personal injury cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent doctors in a wide range of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages plaintiffs can seek in a motor vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages covers any monetary costs that can easily be added up and calculated as a total, for example, medical expenses or lost wages, property repair and even future financial losses, such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages like pain and motor vehicle Accident Attorneys suffering and loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a monetary amount. However these damages must be established to exist by a variety of evidence, including deposition testimony of the plaintiff's close family members and friends, medical records, and other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, Courts will often use the concept of comparative negligence to decide how much of the damages awarded should be split between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant incurred in the incident and then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage of blame. New York law however, does not allow this. 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries sustained by the driver of these trucks and cars. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption that permissive use is applicable is a bit nebulous and usually only a clear showing that the owner has explicitly refused permission to operate the car will overcome it.