What Are The Four Things That You Have To Prove In A Personal Injury Lawsuit?
The majority of personal injury claims involve some form of negligence. For example, a grocery store manager lets a spill in an aisle go unattended and you slip and fall, breaking a hip. Or, a driver playing Pokemon Go on a cell phone sideswipes you, and you injure your back in the accident. Or, maybe a doctor failed to take your health complaints seriously and missed a critical diagnosis.
All of those situations would be valid reasons to file an injury lawsuit based on negligence. No matter how unique your story, however, you have to prove four different things if you want to win your case:
The Defendant Owed You a Certain Duty
Did the defendant have a legal duty to act with reasonable care toward your safety? Most of the time, the defendant's duty toward the injured victim is easy to establish. Shopkeepers have a responsibility to keep their floors clean and safe to walk on, drivers have a legal obligation to keep their attention on the road, and doctors have a duty to provide competent care.
Sometimes, the defense's duty might be questioned, however. For example, if you were injured in a bear trap while taking a shortcut through a neighbor's property despite the "no trespassing" signs he posted, the defense might argue that you weren't owed any duty of care.
The Defendant Breached That Duty
Once you establish the fact that the defendant owed you a duty of care, you have to show that he or she "breached" that duty by either doing something or failing to do something that would have been expected or reasonable under the circumstances. For example, the shopkeeper should have sent someone to clean up the aisle as soon as he was aware it was there, the other driver should have put his phone away while driving, or your doctor should have sent you to a specialist to have your symptoms evaluated.
The breach of duty is often a hot topic in many personal injury claims. For instance, your doctor might argue that your symptoms were so vague that no other doctor in his position would have sent you to a specialist either.
The Defendant's Actions Caused Your Injuries
This is usually easy to prove—but things can get complicated if you have pre-existing conditions. For example, you might think it's obvious that your back injury was caused when the negligent driver who was playing on his phone hit your car. However, the insurance company might try to say that your injury was actually caused by arthritis based on your old medical records.
The Injury Caused You Actual Damages
Finally, you can't collect compensation if you didn't have any actual losses. For example, imagine your doctor ignored your complaints and missed the fact that you had developed diabetes. However, you were smart enough to seek a second opinion right away and the second doctor caught your problem before you suffered any complications. The situation was aggravating, to be sure, but not necessarily compensatable because you weren't harmed.
If you've been injured and feel that someone else is responsible, talk to a personal injury lawyer through firms like Prediletto, Halpin, Scharnikow & Nelson, P.S.