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, when a jury finds you to be responsible for an accident the damages you incur will be reduced according to your percentage of blame. There is a caveat to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles hired or motor vehicle accidents leased by minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed the duty of care toward them. Almost everybody owes this duty to everyone else, however individuals who get behind the driving wheel of a motorized vehicle have an even higher duty to the people in their area of activity. This includes not causing motor vehicle accidents.

In courtrooms, the standard of care is established by comparing an individual's actions to what a normal person would do in the same situations. In the event of medical negligence expert witnesses are typically required. People who have superior knowledge in a particular field can also be held to a higher standard of care than other individuals in similar situations.

If someone violates their duty of care, it can cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim has to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty of care and caused the injury or damage that they suffered. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the proximate and real causes of the damages and injuries.

If someone is driving through the stop sign and fails to obey the stop sign, they could be hit by a car. If their car is damaged, they will be required to pay for repairs. However, the real cause of the crash could be a cut on bricks that later develop into a potentially dangerous infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty is when the actions of the person at fault are insufficient to what a normal person would do in similar circumstances.

For instance, a doctor is required to perform a number of professional duties for his patients based on laws of the state and licensing boards. Motorists are required to show care to other drivers and pedestrians on the road to be safe and follow traffic laws. If a motorist violates this obligation of care and causes an accident, he is responsible for the injury suffered by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable persons" standard to show that there is a duty of prudence and then demonstrate that defendant did not comply with this standard in his conduct. It is a matter of fact for the jury to decide whether the defendant met the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the breach 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. For example it is possible that a defendant been a motorist who ran a red light, but his or her action wasn't the main cause of the crash. In this way, causation is often challenged by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff sustained an injury to his neck in an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer could argue that the collision caused the injury. Other elements that are required to produce the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable and will not affect the jury's decision of liability.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between a negligent act and the victim's afflictions may be more difficult to establish. It may be that the plaintiff has a turbulent past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or has used drugs or alcohol.

It is imperative to consult an experienced lawyer should you be involved in a serious car accident. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience in representing clients in motor vehicle accidents cases, business and commercial litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent doctors in a variety of specialties as well as experts in computer simulations as well as reconstruction of accidents.

Damages

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle litigation, motor vehicle accidents a plaintiff can seek both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages covers any monetary expenses that can be easily added to calculate the sum of medical treatment loss of wages, property repair and even future financial losses like diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages like pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a monetary amount. However the damages must be established to exist with the help of extensive evidence, including deposition testimony from plaintiff's family members and close friends, medical records, and other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts often use comparative fault rules to determine the amount of total damages to be split between them. The jury must determine the proportion of fault each defendant has for the accident, and divide the total damages awarded by that percentage. New York law however, doesn't allow this. 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by the driver of the vehicles. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissiveness applies is not straightforward, and typically only a convincing evidence that the owner explicitly did not have permission to operate his vehicle will be able to overcome it.