Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when liability is contested. The defendant is entitled to respond to the Complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules which means that if the jury finds you responsible for the accident, your damages award will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. There is an exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles which are rented or leased by minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff must show that the defendant was bound by a duty of care towards them. Most people owe this duty to everyone else, but individuals who get behind the car have an even higher duty to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes ensuring that they don't cause motor vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms examine an individual's conduct to what a typical individual would do in similar circumstances to determine what constitutes reasonable standards of care. This is why expert witnesses are often required in cases of medical malpractice. Experts who are knowledgeable in a particular field can also be held to a higher standard of care than other people in similar situations.

A person's breach of their duty of care could cause harm to a victim, 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 a key element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the proximate and real causes of the injuries and damages.

For instance, if a person runs a red stop sign, it's likely that they'll be hit by a car. If their car is damaged they'll be responsible for repairs. The reason for the crash might be a cut in bricks, which later turn into a deadly infection.

Breach of Duty

The second aspect of negligence is the breach of duty by the defendant. This must be proved in order to be awarded compensation for personal injury claims. A breach of duty happens when the at-fault party's actions do not match what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance has a variety of professional duties towards his patients, which stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Motorists are required to show care to other drivers and pedestrians to drive safely and observe traffic laws. Any driver who fails to adhere to this obligation and creates an accident is accountable for the victim's injuries.

Lawyers can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care, and then demonstrate that the defendant failed to satisfy the standard through his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant fulfilled or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's negligence was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For motor vehicle accidents instance it is possible that a defendant run a red light but the action was not the primary cause of the crash. This is why the causation issue is often contested by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and their injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff sustained neck injuries as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer will argue that the collision caused the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle is not culpable and won't affect the jury's decision to determine fault.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between negligence and the victim's afflictions may be more difficult to establish. It may be because the plaintiff has a rocky past, has a difficult relationship with their parents, or is a user of alcohol or drugs.

It is essential to speak with an experienced attorney if you have been involved in a serious motor accident. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury cases, business and commercial litigation, and motor vehicle accidents vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent physicians with a variety of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations, and with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could be able to recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages includes all financial costs that are easily added together and summed up into a total, for example, medical expenses, lost wages, repairs to property, and even future financial loss, such diminished earning capacity.

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

In the event of multiple defendants, courts will typically use the comparative fault rule to determine the amount of total damages that must be divided between them. The jury must decide the proportion of fault each defendant has for the accident and then divide the total amount of damages awarded by the same percentage. New York law however, does not allow this. 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries suffered by driver of these vehicles and trucks. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage applies is complicated, and typically only a clear showing that the owner was explicitly did not have permission to operate his car will overcome it.