Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated then it is necessary to bring a lawsuit. The defendant is entitled to respond to the complaint.

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

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed them a duty to exercise reasonable care. Most people owe this duty to everyone else, however those who are behind the car have a greater obligation to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes not causing motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions with what a normal person would do under the same circumstances to establish what is reasonable standards of care. In the event of medical negligence experts are often required. Experts who have a superior understanding in a particular field can also be held to an even higher standard of care than other people in similar situations.

A person's breach of their obligation of care can cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim must demonstrate that the defendant did not fulfill their obligation and caused the damage or damage that they suffered. Causation is an important part of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the proximate and real causes of the damages and injuries.

If someone runs an stop sign then they are more likely to be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged they'll be accountable for the repairs. But the actual cause of the crash might be a cut from bricks that later develop into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by the defendant is the second element of negligence that must be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the person at fault do not match what an ordinary person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients stemming from the law of the state and licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty of care to other motorists and pedestrians on the road to be safe and follow traffic laws. If a motorist violates this duty of care and results in an accident, the driver is liable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

A lawyer can rely on the "reasonable individuals" standard to prove that there is a duty of care and then prove that the defendant did not comply with this standard with his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standard.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty by the defendant was the sole cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It can be 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. Because of this, causation is often contested by the defendants in case of a crash.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident law firms vehicle accidents, the plaintiff must prove that there is a causal connection between the breach of the defendant and their injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff suffered neck injuries as a result of a rear-end collision and their lawyer would claim that the collision caused the injury. Other elements that could have caused the collision, like being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable and will not influence the jury’s determination of the fault.

It is possible to prove a causal link between a negligent action and the plaintiff's psychological symptoms. It could be because the plaintiff has a rocky past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or is a user of drugs or alcohol.

It is crucial to consult an experienced lawyer if you have been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation, as well as motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have built working relationships with independent physicians in a variety of specialties as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations and reconstruction of accidents.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff could get both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages covers all monetary costs which are easily added together and summed up into a total, such as medical treatment, lost wages, repairs to property, and even the possibility of future financial loss, like loss of earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life cannot be reduced to cash. These damages must be established through extensive evidence like depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases that involve multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine the proportion of damages award should be allocated between them. The jury must decide the proportion of fault each defendant carries for the incident, and Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney 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 when it comes to injuries sustained by drivers of these trucks and cars. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage applies is not straightforward and usually only a clear proof that the owner has explicitly was not granted permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.