Building a case against somebody for negligence in a personal injury claim, is difficult. Across USA, negligence is the leading factor for injuries in slips, falls, car accidents, defective products, medical errors, etc. The legal basis for proving negligence is that you hold someone legally responsible for damages if you prove they were careless. The person acting carelessly is liable for resulting harm. Negligence is the principle used in personal injury cases, whether by negotiated settlement or one going to trial.
Elements of Negligence
We need to analyze the five important elements of negligence:
Duty: You should prove the defendant had a duty of care, to prevent the cause of your injury.
Breach: You must prove violation of standard care, led to the damage or injury.
Causation: You ought to prove correlation between negligence and the consequences.
Proximate cause: You must prove direct linkage between the negligent act and the damage caused.
Harm: You must prove that the incident due to somebody’s negligence resulted in injuries, financial loss, and emotional pain. It may only be one of these points.
These few reasons make it difficult for you to prove negligence:
Not establishing a duty of care
Without an experienced personal injury lawyer, it is difficult to prove dereliction in the duty of care. Proving duty of care is onerous and needs much research due to absence of relevant laws or vague laws. Your lawyer may need an expert witness to testify how the person responsible for your injuries violated expected standards.
Proving breach and causation
Your lawyer can prove evidence of breach of care by securing confession from the responsible party or summon eyewitness testimony to prove its significance and verify the negligent act, such as texted while driving, equipment malfunction due to servicing failure, etc. Upon demonstrating the defendant’s duty owed to you and breach caused by negligence, your lawyer must show how it led to your injuries.
Documentation of injuries
Your lawyer then proves that your injuries were directly due to the defendant’s breach of duty. So, document your injuries from the start. If you neglected to call 911 after an incident, failing to secure medical attention immediately makes it difficult to prove that the specific incident caused injuries. Ensure detailed notes about various types of injuries, recovery time taken, their severity, and its long-term effects.
Potential negligence from you
You risk nil compensation if the opposing lawyer proves you caused the accident. If the plaintiff is over 50% responsible, personal injury claims fail. Avoid speaking to anyone about your accident as you risk saying something to be used later against you. Insurers are notorious for questioning tactics that negatively influence your claims.
Not tracking financial damages
Meticulously document financial damages incurred caused by the incident, such as medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses incurred like medicines, travel, parking, etc. Keep track of incomes lost due to the incident. Proving potential earning losses, if working on commission basis or odd jobs, is difficult, but you press for compensation for this, too.
Conclusion
Don’t fail to receive deserved compensation by neglecting to prove negligence. Collect relevant documents, eye-witness accounts. Hire an experienced personal injury lawyer who assesses how crucial is proving negligence in your case and proceeds to prove it.