Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when liability is contested. The defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules, which means that if the jury finds you to be the cause of an accident, your damages award will be reduced by your percentage of negligence. This rule does not apply to owners of vehicles that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the duty of care towards them. This duty is due to all people, however those who drive a vehicle owe an even greater duty to other people in their field. This includes ensuring that they do not cause motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms assess an individual's actions to what a typical person would do in the same circumstances to determine reasonable standards of care. This is why expert witnesses are often required when cases involve medical malpractice. Experts with more experience in specific fields could be held to a greater standard of care.

If a person violates their duty of care, it can cause injury to the victim or their property. The victim has to prove that the defendant's breach of duty caused the harm and damages they suffered. Causation is a key element of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the primary and secondary causes of the damages and injuries.

If a driver is caught running an stop sign and fails to obey the stop sign, they could be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they will need to pay for repairs. The real cause of the crash 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 needs to be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the person who is at fault are not in line with what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor, has a number of professional obligations to his patients. These obligations stem from state law and licensing bodies. Motorists have a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians to drive safely and obey traffic laws. If a motorist violates this obligation of care and results in an accident, the driver is responsible for the victim's injuries.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable persons" standard to establish that there is a duty of care and then prove that the defendant failed to meet this standard in his actions. It is a question of fact that the jury has to decide if the defendant complied with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's breach was the primary cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have driven through a red light but that's not the cause of the bicycle accident. The issue of causation is often challenged in a crash case by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle accidents, the plaintiff must establish an causal link between breach of the defendant and their injuries. If the plaintiff suffered a neck injury in an accident that involved rear-end collisions the attorney for the plaintiff would argue that the collision caused the injury. Other factors that contributed to the collision, like being in a stationary car are not considered to be culpable and will not influence the jury’s determination of fault.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between a negligent act and the injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. The fact that the plaintiff had an uneasy childhood, a bad relationship with their parents, was a user of alcohol and drugs or had previous unemployment may have some bearing on the severity of the psychological issues he or she suffers after an accident, however, the courts typically consider these factors as part of the circumstances that led to the accident from which the plaintiff's injury occurred, rather than as an independent reason for the injuries.

If you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle Accident [Clashofcryptos.trade] It is imperative to speak with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident law firm vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent doctors in various specialties, as well as experts in computer simulations and reconstruction of accident.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages includes any monetary expenses that can be easily added to calculate a total, for example, medical expenses, lost wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, like a diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, like suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of living, cannot be reduced to financial value. These damages must be established with a large amount of evidence, such as depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or 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 total damages award should be allocated between them. The jury has to determine the percentage of fault each defendant is accountable for the incident, and divide the total damages awarded by the percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries sustained by the driver of the vehicles. The process of determining whether the presumption of permissiveness is complex. Typically, only a clear demonstration that the owner refused permission to the driver to operate the vehicle can overrule the presumption.