Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated in court, it becomes necessary to make a complaint. The Defendant has the right to respond to the Complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules which means that if the jury finds you responsible for an accident the damages awarded will be reduced by your percentage of negligence. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care towards them. This duty is due to all, but those who operate vehicles owe an even higher duty to other drivers in their field. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms, the standard of care is established by comparing an individual's conduct against what a normal individual would do in the same situations. Expert witnesses are often required in cases involving medical negligence. Experts with more experience in the field could be held to a higher standard of care.

A breach of a person's duty of care may cause harm to the victim or their property. The victim is then required to demonstrate that the defendant did not fulfill their duty and caused the harm or damage they sustained. Causation is an essential element of any negligence claim. It involves proving the primary and secondary causes of the damage and injury.

For instance, if a person has a red light there is a good chance that they'll be hit by another car. If their vehicle is damaged, they will be responsible for the repairs. The actual cause of an accident could be a brick cut that causes an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to 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 aren't in line with what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients that are governed by state law and licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians to drive safely and observe traffic laws. If a driver violates this obligation and causes an accident is responsible for the victim's injuries.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable individuals" standard to prove that there is a duty to be cautious and then demonstrate that defendant did not meet the standard in 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 by the defendant was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant might have walked through a red light, but that's not what caused the bicycle accident. In this way, causation is often contested by the defendants in cases of crash.

Causation

In motor vehicle-related cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between breach by the defendant and their injuries. For instance, if a plaintiff sustained neck injuries as a result of a rear-end collision, his or her lawyer will argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary to cause the collision, such as being in a stationary car are not culpable and will not affect the jury's decision on the degree of fault.

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

It is imperative to consult an experienced attorney should you be involved in a serious car accident. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in Kaplan Motor Vehicle Accident Law Firm vehicle accidents, commercial and business litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent doctors across a variety of specialties and expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well with private investigators.

Damages

The damages a plaintiff can recover in a wood ridge motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is any monetary costs that can easily be added to calculate a total, for example, medical treatment, lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses, like diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages like suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment cannot be reduced to cash. However these damages must be established to exist through extensive evidence, such as 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 the rules of comparative negligence to determine the proportion of damages awarded should be divided between them. The jury must determine the percentage of fault each defendant has for the accident and then divide the total damages awarded by the same percentage. New York law however, does not allow this. 1602 disqualifies vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in cases where injuries are sustained by the drivers of cars or trucks. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is complicated and typically only a clear proof that the owner explicitly was not granted permission to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome it.