Motor Vehicle Litigation

When liability is contested, it becomes necessary to start a lawsuit. The defendant has the option to respond to the Complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, if a jury finds that you were at fault for an accident, your damages will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. The majority of people owe this obligation to everyone else, but those who sit behind the driving wheel of a motorized vehicle have a greater obligation to other people in their field of operation. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms the standards of care are determined by comparing an individual's conduct with what a normal person would do in the same conditions. In the event of medical negligence, expert witnesses are usually required. People with superior knowledge in a certain field may be held to a higher standard of medical care.

If a person violates their duty of care, it may cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim must then show that the defendant's infringement of their duty resulted in the harm and damages they suffered. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It involves proving the actual and proximate causes of the damages and injuries.

For instance, if a person is stopped at a red light then it's likely that they will be hit by a car. If their car is damaged they will be responsible for the repairs. The cause of an accident could be a fracture in the brick that leads to an infection.

Breach of Duty

The second element of negligence is the breach of duty by an individual defendant. The breach of duty must be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of a party who is at fault are not in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance has many professional duties towards his patients. These obligations stem from state law and licensing bodies. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians on the road to drive safely and observe traffic laws. A driver who breaches this obligation and causes an accident is responsible for the victim's injuries.

Lawyers can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of a duty of care and then prove that the defendant did not meet that standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standard.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's breach was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant may have run through a red light however, that's not the reason for your bicycle accident. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle accidents vehicle cases the plaintiff must establish an causal link between defendant's breach and their injuries. For example, if the plaintiff suffered a neck injury from a rear-end collision, his or her lawyer might claim that the collision caused the injury. Other factors necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and won't affect the jury's decision on the degree of fault.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between a negligent act and the victim's afflictions 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 prior unemployment could have a influence on the severity the psychological problems he or is suffering from following a crash, but the courts typically consider these factors as part of the background circumstances that led to the accident from which the plaintiff's injury was triggered, not as a separate reason for the injuries.

If you've been involved in an accident involving a motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle that was serious it is crucial to consult an experienced attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in motor vehicle accident, commercial and business litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent doctors with a variety of specialties and expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages that plaintiffs can seek in motor vehicle Accident lawyers vehicle litigation include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages encompasses all monetary costs which can easily be added up and calculated into an overall amount, including medical treatment as well as lost wages, repairs to property, or even a future financial loss, such the loss of earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages, such as 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 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 rules of comparative negligence to determine how much of the damages awarded should be divided between them. The jury will determine the percentage of fault each defendant has for the incident and then divide the total amount of damages awarded by that 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 resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is complex, and typically only a clear evidence that the owner explicitly denied permission to operate the vehicle will overcome it.