Legal Negligence

Negligence is the failure of someone to act in a reasonable way that causes injury or harm. Negligence is a legal term that is the basis for most personal injury lawsuits. If you can show someone was negligent in causing your accident, you can get compensation for your injuries.

If you were injured in an accident, a personal injury lawsuit can help you get money for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Speak with a personal injury attorney to learn everything you need about your legal rights.

What Is Negligence?

Negligence is the breach of a duty of care that causes injury or harm. Negligence is the basis for most personal injury cases. In a personal injury lawsuit, the injury victim needs to show that the defendant was negligent in causing their damages. The defendant can try to show they were not negligent or that the plaintiff was responsible for the accident. It is up to a jury to decide who was negligent and the amount of damages.

What Personal Injury Claims Involve Negligence?

Most personal injury lawsuits are based on negligence. Negligence provides a cause of action to file a lawsuit. If someone’s unreasonable actions injure you, you can recover compensation if you show they were negligent. Examples of personal injury accidents based on negligence include:

• Motor vehicle accidents
• Truck accidents
• Bike accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Wrongful death

What Are the Elements of a Negligence Claim?

To win a personal injury lawsuit, you must prove the defendant’s actions were negligent and caused your injuries. You have to prove the elements of the charge by a preponderance of the evidence. This means more likely than not. The elements of negligence are:

• Duty
• Breach
• Causation
• Harm

Duty of Care

We all owe each other a duty of care. If you are driving in your car, you owe other drivers and pedestrians a duty to act like a reasonable driver. This means following the traffic rules and acting reasonably behind the wheel.

Breach of the Duty of Care

Doing something a reasonable person would not do is a breach of your duty of reasonable care. This includes failing to do something a reasonable person would do. For example, if you are driving and ignore a red light, running the stop light may breach your legal duty as a driver.

Causation of the Accident

You must also prove that the breach of duty caused the injury or accident. This includes but-for causation and proximate cause. In the driving example, you would not have gotten into the accident if the other driver had not run the stop light. Getting into an accident was a foreseeable result of running the red light.

Suffering Harm

Finally, you have to show you suffered injury or harm. This could include causing severe injury or property damage. If someone ran a red light and narrowly missed, causing an accident, there may be no claim because there was no harm.

What Personal Injury Cases Are Not Based on Negligence?

Not all personal injury cases deal with negligence. Other types of personal injury claims include:

• Strict liability
• Intentional torts

Strict liability holds someone accountable without showing negligence. A common example of this is product liability claims. If a company puts out a dangerous and defective product, the company is responsible. You don’t have to show that any one person was negligent. You only have to show that the product was defective as sold and that the product caused your injuries.

Intentional torts are for injuries caused by intentional actions. For example, if someone punches you, they may be liable for your damages. Intentional torts include assault, false imprisonment, and defamation.

Can More Than One Person Be Negligent?

There can be more than one negligent party involved in an accident. There can also be different levels of negligence. In many car accidents, multiple drivers may have been negligent. This can make a personal injury lawsuit more complicated.

The defendant may claim that you were negligent in causing the accident. A jury can decide how to divide negligence in an injury accident. This can make a difference in how much you can recover in damages. In contributory negligence states, you won’t get any compensation if you are at all responsible. Other states will reduce your damages based on your level of fault.

In a comparative negligence state, the jury would allocate fault adding up to 100%. For example, you suffered $100,000 in damages after a car accident. The jury finds you 20% negligent and the other driver 80% negligent. In this case, you could get $80,000 in damages from the other driver.

How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help With a Negligence Action?

Negligence cases can seem simple if someone’s careless behavior injures you. However, a personal injury lawsuit can get much more complicated. The defendant may accuse you of negligence in causing your own injuries. Before filing a personal injury lawsuit, understand your legal options.

A personal injury lawyer can review your case and give you legal advice. An attorney is familiar with these types of cases and how the insurance company may try to deny your claim. An experienced accident attorney can negotiate with the insurance company to ensure you get a fair settlement. Talk to an experienced personal injury attorney about how to recover compensation for your injuries.