motor vehicle accident lawsuit Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required in cases where liability is challenged. The Defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, should a jury find you to be responsible for an accident, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of blame. There is an exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes the owners of vehicles that are that are rented or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant had a duty of care towards them. Nearly everyone owes this obligation to everyone else, however those who are behind the car have an even higher duty to other people in their field of operation. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

Courtrooms assess an individual's actions with what a normal person would do in similar circumstances to determine reasonable standards of care. In cases of medical malpractice expert witnesses are typically required. Experts with a higher level of expertise of a specific area may also be held to the highest standards of care than other individuals in similar situations.

When someone breaches their duty of care, it could cause damage to the victim as well as their property. The victim must prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and caused the harm or damages they sustained. Proving causation is an essential part of any negligence case which involves looking at both the actual basis of the injury or damages and the proximate cause of the damage or injury.

If a driver is caught running the stop sign and fails to obey the stop sign, they could be hit by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll need to pay for repairs. The real cause of the crash could be a brick cut which develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the person who is at fault are insufficient to what an ordinary person would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional duties to his patients, arising from the law of the state and licensing boards. Drivers are bound to take care of other drivers and pedestrians, and follow traffic laws. If a motorist violates this duty of care and results in an accident, the driver is liable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable persons" standard to show that there is a duty of care and then show that the defendant did not meet this standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant fulfilled or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also establish that the defendant's breach of duty was the primary cause of his or her injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty and breach. For example it is possible that a defendant run a red light but his or her action wasn't the proximate reason for your bicycle crash. For this reason, the causation issue is often contested by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle Accident law firms vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. If the plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck in an accident with rear-end damage, his or her attorney will argue that the incident was the reason for the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and won't affect the jury's decision to determine the cause of the accident.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between negligence and the injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. It could be because the plaintiff has had a difficult background, a strained relationship with their parents, or is a user of drugs or alcohol.

If you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident it is crucial to speak with an experienced attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in motor vehicle accident as well as business and commercial litigation, and personal injury cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent doctors in different specialties, as well experts in computer simulations and accident reconstruction.

Damages

The damages plaintiffs can claim in motor vehicle accident attorneys vehicle litigation can include both economic and non-economic damages. The first category of damages is any monetary expenses that can be easily added to calculate an amount, like medical expenses, lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses, like diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of life, cannot be reduced to monetary value. However these damages must be proven to exist using extensive evidence, including deposition testimony from the plaintiff's close friends and family members medical records, other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine how much of the total damages award should be allocated between them. The jury must determine the amount of fault each defendant has for the incident, and divide the total amount of damages awarded by the same percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule in relation to injuries sustained by drivers of these trucks and cars. The process to determine if the presumption is permissive is complicated. Most of the time it is only a clear evidence that the owner was not able to grant permission for the driver to operate the vehicle can overrule the presumption.