After you suffered an accident, particularly one that results in serious injuries, there are several important matters to consider. However, if you’re thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit, the most vital issue is determining legal liability, or fault, for the accident.
If you can’t prove the fault of another party, you will have no shot at winning your claim, which is why it’s important to take a closer look at this issue. Here are some of the ways you can make proving fault after an accident easy, including getting advice from an experienced personal injury attorney.
Negligence and Carelessness
If you’ve ever done any research into personal injury cases, then you may have come across the term negligence, which can also be understood as carelessness. In the majority of accidents, one party was less careful than the other, and it is the careless party who is almost always at fault for the accident, meaning they may need to pay damages to the injured party.
However, it’s also possible that the injured party was also careless, which can complicate the issue for example. For instance, if you visit a location where you were not invited and you suffer an injury, then you were at least partially irresponsible for your injury. You would need to demonstrate that the other party was even more careless than yourself before you would be able to receive compensation.
Who Deserves Your Claim
In many accidents, you can easily decide the person who is responsible that you will file your claim against. However, if there are multiple persons who could reasonably be deemed liable, you should be very cautious about how you bring your claim.
Your goal in proving fault after an accident and filing a claim is receiving the most compensation possible, and if you file your claim against the wrong person, this can be very difficult. For instance, if you are injured by someone who was on the job, bringing a claim or lawsuit against their employer is the better idea as your settlement may be larger. Similarly, in a multi-car accident, you should be sure you’re bringing your claim against a driver with insurance.
For accidents where multiple people could be at fault, you should probably consult an attorney before moving forward with your claim.
Shared Responsibility
When you’re attempting to prove fault, you should be certain that you’re not ignoring the fact that you may hold some liability for your accident, as this can reduce the compensation to which you are entitled.
Damages for accidents in some states are determined using comparative negligence, which means both parties can share fault. If the court decides you were half responsible for your accident and monetary damage you suffered totaled $4,000, you would only be able to collect $2,000 based on this rule. To receive full damages, you would need to prove the other part was entirely liable for your accident.
Get Legal Assistance
Proving fault after an accident on your own can be extremely difficult, which is why you should consider getting assistance from the legal team at Lowry & Associates. We offer free consultations and you’ll never owe us anything unless we win your case. You can reach us at 207-775-3819 or fill out our free case review form.
