Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary when the liability is being contested. The defendant will then be given the opportunity to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules which means that in the event that a jury finds you responsible for a crash, your damages award will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence suit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was obligated to act with reasonable care. This duty is owed to everyone, but people who operate a vehicle owe an even greater duty to others in their field. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions to what a typical individual would do under similar circumstances to determine a reasonable standard of care. In cases of medical malpractice expert witnesses are typically required. Experts with more experience in the field could be held to a greater standard of medical care.

A person's breach of their duty of care can cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim must demonstrate that the defendant's violation of their duty resulted in the injury and damages that they suffered. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the primary and secondary causes of the damage and injury.

For example, if someone is stopped at a red light and is stopped, they will be hit by a car. If their car is damaged they'll be responsible for repairs. The reason for the accident could be a cut in the brick, which then develops into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second factor of negligence that must be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the person at fault fall short of what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for example is a professional with a range of professional obligations to his patients that are derived from the law of the state and licensing authorities. Drivers are bound to protect other motorists as well as pedestrians, and to respect traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty of care and causes an accident, he is accountable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

A lawyer can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care and then demonstrate that the defendant failed to meet the standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant fulfilled 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. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have driven through a red light but that wasn't what caused the crash on your bicycle. For this reason, causation is frequently disputed by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained an injury to the neck as a result of a rear-end collision the lawyer might argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary to cause the collision, such as being in a stationary car are not culpable and will not affect the jury's decision on the cause of the accident.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between a negligent act and an injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. It could be the case that the plaintiff has a turbulent past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or is a user of alcohol or drugs.

It is imperative to consult an experienced attorney in the event that you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent physicians in various areas of expertise as well as experts in computer simulations and reconstruction of accidents.

Damages

In st louis motor vehicle accident lawsuit vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may be able to recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages includes the costs of monetary value that can be easily added together and summed up into an overall amount, including medical treatments as well as lost wages, repairs to property, or even a future financial loss, like loss of earning capacity.

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

In the event of multiple defendants, courts will often use comparative fault rules to determine the amount of total damages that must be divided between them. The jury must decide the proportion of fault each defendant is responsible for the incident, and divide the total amount of damages awarded by the same percentage. However, New York law 1602 exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative negligence rule in the event of injuries sustained by the drivers of trucks or cars. The process of determining whether the presumption of permissiveness is complex. The majority of the time, only a clear demonstration that the owner was not able to grant permission for attorneys the driver to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome the presumption.