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motor vehicle attorney Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is required when liability is contested. The defendant will then be given the chance to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules, which means that should a jury find you responsible for a crash, your damages award will be reduced by the 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 lawsuit for negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed to everyone, but those who operate a vehicle have an even greater obligation to others in their field. This includes ensuring that there are no accidents in motor vehicle litigation vehicles.

Courtrooms compare an individual's actions to what a typical individual would do in the same circumstances to establish what is a reasonable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts with a higher level of expertise of a specific area may also be held to an even higher standard of care than others in similar situations.

A person's breach of their duty of care could cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim is then required to show that the defendant's infringement of their duty resulted in the injury and damages that they suffered. Proving causation is a critical element in any negligence case which involves investigating both the primary reason for the injury or damages, as well as the causal reason for the damage or injury.

If someone runs an stop sign, they are likely to be hit by another vehicle. If their car is damaged they'll be responsible for the repairs. But the actual cause of the crash might be a cut or the brick, which then develops into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury claim. A breach of duty is when the actions taken by the at-fault party fall short of what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance has many professional obligations to his patients. These professional obligations stem from laws of the state and licensing bodies. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians to be safe and follow traffic laws. If a driver violates this obligation and motor vehicle case causes an accident is accountable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable persons" standard to demonstrate that there is a duty of prudence and then show that defendant failed to meet the standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the breach of duty by the defendant was the main cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It can be more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have run through a red light but that's not what caused your bicycle accident. Causation is often contested in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle settlement vehicle accidents, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the breach of the defendant and their injuries. For instance, if a plaintiff sustained a neck injury from a rear-end collision and their lawyer might argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car, are not culpable, and will not affect the jury’s determination of the fault.

It could be more difficult to establish a causal link between a negligent action and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. The fact that the plaintiff had an uneasy childhood, a bad relationship with his or her parents, used alcohol and drugs, or suffered prior unemployment could have a impact on the severity of the psychological issues he or suffers from following an accident, but courts typically look at these factors as part of the context that led to the accident from which the plaintiff's injury was triggered, not as a separate cause of the injuries.

It is essential to speak with an experienced lawyer in the event that you've been involved in a serious accident. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury as well as commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle attorneys vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent physicians in a variety of specialties, as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations and reconstruction of accidents.

Damages

The damages a plaintiff can recover in a motor vehicle case include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is any monetary costs that can be easily added up and calculated as an amount, like medical expenses and lost wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.

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

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts typically apply the rules of comparative fault to determine the amount of total damages that should be divided between them. The jury will determine the percentage of fault each defendant carries for the incident and then divide the total damages awarded by the same percentage. However, New York law 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by drivers of these vehicles and trucks. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive use applies is not straightforward and usually only a clear proof that the owner was explicitly did not have permission to operate his car will overcome it.