General Rules of Determining Fault
The rule of thumb for personal injury cases is that one person is less careful than another during an accident the person that was less careful must pay the victim of the accident for what happened. There are some exceptions to the rule when determining who is at fault for a personal injury claim.
Those exceptions are as follows:
- If the person injured was in a location where he or she was not supposed to be and an accident occurred. The person at that location that caused the accident might not be held liable. Also, if the person was at a location where he or she could have expected such an accident to occur.
- If the person injured in the case was also careless, this means that the injured person could have their personal injury awards reduced. When this happens this is known as comparative negligence.
- If an accident occurs by a negligent person while working for someone else, the employer of the negligent party could also be liable in the personal injury case.
- The owner of a piece of property where an accident occurs can be held liable in a personal injury case if the property is poorly built or poorly maintained. The property owner will be held liable for being careless in the maintaining the property regardless of whether or not the property owner had any hand in creating the poor condition.
- The manufacturer and seller of a defective product are both held liable in a personal injury case when a defective product injures a consumer even if the consumer doesn’t know if the manufacturer or the seller is at fault.
When proving fault in a personal injury claim, one must prove all four of the following items in a court of law:
- The plaintiff must show that the defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff under the circumstances
- That the defendant failed to fulfill ("breached") that legal duty through conduct or action (this can include a failure to act)
- That the defendant caused an accident or injury involving the plaintiff
- That the defendant harmed or injured the plaintiff as a result
Procedures in Proving Fault
A personal injury lawyer representing a victim of a personal injury case has a ton of work to do when determining who is at fault in a personal injury claim. The lawyer must collect any and all evidence surrounding the accident, including a police report if one was filed, as well as the statements of any witnesses to the accident.
The lawyer must also interview or question the defendant in the case to determine if the plaintiff is not telling a lie to file a false injury compensation claim or a false personal injury compensation claim. Both parties can be at fault in a personal injury case which will mean that the plaintiff in the claim will receive less money for compensation because he or she is also partly at fault in the accident that resulted in a personal injury litigation. Sometimes, if both parties are found to be at fault in the accident then neither side will be awarded compensation for injuries incurred.
