California Negligence Laws and Your Personal Injury Claim

If you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligent actions, you may be eligible for compensation. Personal injury law allows you to receive the money you deserve for all the suffering and the damages you’ve had to experience after the events that led to your injuries took place.

A California personal injury claim requires that you prove the at-fault party’s liability and negligence before you’re able to receive monetary compensation. This process can be complex, especially if you’re not familiar with local laws.

Hiring an attorney to take care of the hard part would be a wise move in this situation, and possessing some basic knowledge about the legal elements that influence this concept can help you make sure you don’t commit mistakes while working with a personal injury lawyer.

Understanding the Meaning of Negligence

By definition, negligence is considered as the failure to exercise reasonable care under similar circumstances. But when you’re taking legal action against the individual that caused your injuries and financial problems, a definition won’t be enough.

During litigation, you, as the plaintiff, will need to prove that a duty of care was present when your accident took place, and that it was breached by the at-fault party. This is the first and most important step for personal injury cases and it can be vastly different depending on where and how you’ve been injured.

Acknowledging the Legal Duty of Care

Duty of care is a legal term that establishes a person’s obligation to avoid acting in a way that could cause harm to another individual. This criteria needs to be met in order to proceed with your personal injury case, and it’s fundamental to prove that it was present in the specific instant that led to your accident taking place if you want to achieve a positive outcome.

The next step is to prove that the duty of care was breached. This means demonstrating that the defendant failed to preserve this criteria, and that his actions or inactions were the cause of the events that transpired as he did not exercise a reasonable standard of care in that specific situation.

For example, when accessing an establishment or a store, business owners have a legal obligation to keep the environment safe for anyone who may enter. If you slip on a wet floor because there was no warning sign that could have made you aware of this event and allow you to be cautious in order to prevent this accident, the owner has breached their duty of care and will need to adequately compensate you for all current and future expenses caused by their negligence.

Another common example is when a driver fails to keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. It is everyone’s job to keep the roads safe, and an intoxicated or distracted individual behind the wheel has breached their duty of care, as they did not refrain from committing actions that could cause harm to other individuals.

A Direct Consequence

The legal concept of negligence doesn’t stop at the duty of care and an eventual breach. These two elements by themselves won’t be enough to maximize your compensation or prove liability. You’ll also need to prove that your injuries, your suffering, and all your damages are a direct consequence of someone else’s carelessness.

That’s why it’s extremely important to gather all the evidence needed to demonstrate this factor as soon as possible after the accident takes place. Relevant information like a medical report that shows the full extent of your injuries, statements from witnesses and an accident report, which you should always try to obtain when you’re involved in a car accident, are all key elements used to establish fault.

The nature of your injuries and how they negatively affected your life will influence the amount of compensation you’ll be able to obtain. For this reason, you should always seek help from healthcare professionals and focus on obtaining a sufficient amount of evidence if you want to file a claim.

Comparative Negligence and How a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You

Keep in mind that California is a comparative negligence state, so you have no reason to hesitate when you’re thinking of filing a claim even if you were partly at fault as you’re still entitled to compensation. Unfortunately, insurance companies and defendants are also aware of this and will try every strategy they can think of to minimize or dismiss your claim.

At Kohan & Bablove Injury Attorneys, our lawyers will make sure that doesn’t happen. We can file a claim on your behalf and fight for the compensation you rightfully deserve. You won’t have to worry about making a mistake with an experienced attorney by your side. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our legal team, give us a call at 1-844-404-2400 or fill out the online contact form to schedule your free case review.