For any kind of litigation, the objective is to prove culpability or innocence. In a potential case of negligence, the law requires that specific criteria be met to prove culpability and to show negligence. There has to be more than an accusation of negligence. It falls to the injured party to provide evidence that some unintentional or intentional action led to the injury.
When hiring a personal injury lawyer, that counsel’s job will be to help the client prove that negligence occurred, and they have to do so according to the law. They will have to make sure the same criteria are met in order to ascertain negligence. They do this on their own and then have to replicate the results in court or in a private settlement.
1. Requirements for Proving Negligence
According to Anthony who manages an Injury Law Firm, in order to prove that the defending party was negligent, the injured party will have to demonstrate that a duty of care was required of them. This simply means that the defending party was required to prove some sort of care to the injured party.
In most cases, that would be a measure of safety, like a safe working environment or a safe shopping environment. Then the injured party has to show that the defending party breached that duty of care, or otherwise failed to provide reasonable care, which led to an injury.
2. Determining Legitimacy for a Court Case
In order to merit a court case, litigation or some settlement, the loss caused by the injury has to be reasonably significant. There must be demonstrable monetary loss, or perhaps a loss of bodily function, a loss of comfort or some other measurable, discernible loss that has taken place as a result of the negligence. If negligence occurred, but there were no serious repercussions and the injured party was not significantly affected, then a court may not hear the case and the accused party may not seek a settlement.
A lawyer can help their client to determine if the grievance is legitimate and if significant loss occurred that would merit legal action. In some cases, it may be in the client’s best interest to seek an apology rather than a monetary settlement due to the limited extent of the injury.
3. Seeking Counsel before Moving Forward with Litigation
Negligence is very specific, and it has to specifically be proven before any litigation can move forward. If you are not sure whether you have a case and whether you can prove negligence, then you should talk to your personal injury lawyer to have your situation assessed.
The lawyer will be able to help you determine if you can move forward with the case or if you need to seek further evidence or even drop the case. Your lawyer may advise you to drop the attempt at litigation if negligence cannot be proven.
There are many times where legal clients think that they have a strong case for negligence but when examined under the criteria of the law, their evidence is insufficient to move forward. This is why it is crucial to seek the advice of a lawyer as soon as possible in cases of perceived negligence.
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