If you’ve been wronged as a result of someone else’s misdeeds, the odds are good that you have cause to sue. Whether you can depends upon the nature of the incident and if a defendant’s irresponsibility can be proven. Here’s a breakdown of the requirements that must be met in order to claim negligence in court.
Duty of Care
Also referred to as standard of care, this principle concerns the obligation that individuals have toward others to exercise common sense and act in a safe manner. One example of a duty of care violation is a reckless driver; every vehicle operator is mandated to obey traffic laws and use commonsense. Only when the expectation of certain conduct is in effect can a lawsuit claiming negligence become possible.
Breach of Duty
To win your case, you need to show that reasonable assumptions were not met. Keeping with the above example, you must prove that a specific moving violation was committed. This could be satisfied by your car’s dashcam footage, or perhaps security video from a nearby store or residence. Say the other driver went through a red light; an official record of its color at the time of the accident could confirm a breach of duty. Witnesses are also helpful in this regard. Personal injury attorneys are adept at getting and compiling these statements.
Causation
Petitioning a court for damages requires that there be a direct link between the defendant’s actions (or lack thereof) and your suffering. Hospital records generated as a result of injuries sustained in our theoretical crash would help satisfy this obligation. A trial might include a doctor’s testimony stating that you were in good health prior to the incident and that your compromised physical condition resulted because of the defendant’s behavior. Words to this effect could also convince a judge and jury of clear causation.
Damages
Vital to every negligence lawsuit is determining how much is owed. Besides medical bills, you might become unable to work as a result of being harmed, causing income to permanently stop. Adding these amounts requires an informed touch. Further, courts allow money to be awarded for pain and suffering. A personal injury attorney can determine exactly how much a litigant should formally request.
Those who suffer because of another’s misconduct shouldn’t be forced to assume a financial burden in addition to their physical and emotional trauma. Hire a truck crash lawyer, at Greenspan & Greenspan P.C. to determine whether your case holds merit and if so, hold the responsible party accountable.
