Personal Injury Proof and Winning Your Claim

If you are injured by another person through no fault of your own, be it via a car accident, a dangerous condition on someone’s property, someone committing a battery against you or any other negligent act, you will have a viable personal injury lawsuit against them.   A personal injury or negligence suit will allow you to recover a variety of civil damages against the person that injured you.

Proving Fault and Liability for an Injury

In order to prevail on a personal injury case, there are certain elements that must be proven.  First, you must prove that the person that injured you owed you a legal duty.  This is the easiest element to prove and can be shown in a variety of ways.  A person that is driving on the highways has a legal duty to ensure that they are operating their car in a safe and responsible manner as well as a duty to obey all traffic laws.  A homeowner has a legal duty to ensure that their home is safe for others to enter.  A storeowner has the duty to ensure that their store is safe for people to shop in.  All persons have the legal duty to not intentionally harm another.

Next, it must be shown that the person that injured you breached their legal duty to you.   Asserting that the person that was responsible for the injury didn’t act in a manner consistent with the reasonable person standard, which is the cornerstone determination for finding breach, usually proves this. The question is did the person behave like a reasonable person would- for example, would a reasonable person run a red light?  Once a breach of duty in care is found the next element that must be examined is causation.

Causation is a determination on whether the actions of the person that committed the injury were the actual cause of the injury suffered.  The person that files a personal injury suit has the burden of proof requirement they must show in order to prove that the person they are suing was the cause of their injury.  The final element that must be proven in court is damages.

Damages Available in a Personal Injury Suit

There are a variety of damages that you can recover once you’ve proven the first three elements of a person injury suit.  You are responsible for providing proof of your damages for the court to consider.  Often, along with documentary proof of your loss, expert witness testimony can greatly assist in your proof of damages to the court.   Types of damages available include:

• Lost wages and future loss of earnings due to the severity of the injury
• Pain and suffering (present and future)
• Medical expenses (present and future)
• Loss of companionship
• Punitive damages (in cases of severe breach of duty)

Hiring a Lawyer

As in any type of legal situation in which you are asserting or protecting your rights, it is absolutely pivotal that you seek the advice of a local licensed attorney in your area.  Attorneys are experts at what is required to ensure that you recover the maximum amount of compensation allowed by law for your injury.  Never try to go it alone, for only an attorney can be aware of the nuances of law that will allow for your full recovery.