Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when the liability is being contested. 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 and you are found to be at fault, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of blame. This rule is not applicable to the owners of vehicles that are which are rented out or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the duty of care toward them. Most people owe this duty to everyone else, but individuals who get behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle accident lawyers vehicle are obligated to the people in their area of operation. This includes ensuring that they do not cause accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms the standards of care are determined by comparing the actions of an individual with what a typical person would do under similar circumstances. In the case of medical malpractice, expert witnesses are usually required. Experts with a superior understanding of particular fields may be held to a greater standard of care.

When a person breaches their duty of care, it can cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim must then show that the defendant's infringement of their duty caused the harm and damages they have suffered. Causation proof is a crucial part of any negligence case and requires taking into consideration both the real cause of the injury or damages and the proximate cause of the injury or damage.

If a person is stopped at the stop sign it is likely that they will be struck by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they will be responsible for repairs. The cause of a crash could be a fracture in the brick that leads to an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second factor of negligence that must be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty is when the actions of the person at fault do not match what a normal person would do under similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor has a variety of professional obligations towards his patients. These professional obligations stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Motorists have a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians to drive in a safe manner and adhere to traffic laws. A driver who breaches this duty and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer can use the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care, and then demonstrate that the defendant did not meet the standard in his actions. It is a matter of fact that the jury has to decide if the defendant met the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also establish that the breach of duty by the defendant was the primary cause for the injuries. It can be more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For instance, a defendant may have crossed a red light, but the action was not the primary cause of your bicycle crash. In this way, causation is often challenged by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle-related cases, the plaintiff must establish that there is a causal connection between the defendant's breach and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffers neck injuries in an accident with rear-end damage the attorney for the plaintiff will argue that the crash was the cause of the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, like being in a stationary car are not considered to be culpable and won't affect the jury's determination of the cause of the accident.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between a negligent act and the injured plaintiff's symptoms could be more difficult to establish. It could be the case that the plaintiff has a turbulent background, a strained relationship with their parents, or is a user of alcohol or drugs.

If you've been involved in an accident that is serious to your vehicle it is crucial to consult with an experienced attorney. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation, as well as motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have developed relationships with independent physicians in a wide range of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations, as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages plaintiffs can claim in a motor Vehicle accident Law firms vehicle case include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is any monetary expenses that can be easily added to calculate a sum, such as medical expenses, lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages like the suffering of others and the loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. However these damages must be proven to exist through extensive evidence, including deposition testimony from the plaintiff's close friends and family members medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine how much of the damages awarded should be split between them. The jury must determine the amount of fault each defendant had for the accident and to then divide the total amount of damages by that percentage of fault. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries suffered by driver of these vehicles and trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage is applicable is a bit nebulous and typically only a convincing evidence that the owner has explicitly refused permission to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome it.