Negligence occurs when a person or entity acts carelessly, and that action leads to harming another person. A person or a business can be held negligent for their actions. If you have been injured by the actions of another person or business, you should protect your rights and contact a personal injury lawyer.
Basic Negligence Claims Elements
When a person has been injured by the actions of another person or business, it is their responsibility to show the court that the injuries are the result of those actions. These are often referred to as negligence claims elements.
There are four negligence claims elements that must be met for the courts to accept your claim and hear your case. Working with a lawyer will enable you to establish each of these elements.
1. Duty of Care
When an accident happens and an injury occurs, it is important to establish who is at fault for the accident. Determining who is responsible provides the court with the “reason” that the party is being asked to pay for damages.
Part of establishing who is at fault is showing that there was a “Duty of Care” by the responsible party to the injured party.
What is a duty of care? An example would be someone driving a car. The person driving the vehicle has a responsibility or duty to operate that vehicle safely and within the law’s guidelines. These laws are to be followed for the safety of the driver and the safety of others on the road.
Once a duty has been established, the lawyer will have to move to the second requirement.
2. Breach of Duty
The second element that must be shown is that there was a breach of duty or responsibility. Using the above example of someone driving a car, a breach would be that the person was texting and driving and ran a red light, causing a car accident.
The accident was a result of a breach of responsibility. Your lawyer will show that the responsible party made decisions against common practices or the law, resulting in an accident.
3. The Breach Resulted in Injury
This is the easiest of all four elements. The lawyer must show the court that the responsible party’s actions were the direct cause of your injuries. Using the car accident scenario, if the driver ran a red light and caused the accident, their actions caused your injuries.
4. Financial Damages
The final element of a negligence case is to show the court that the injuries you received as the result of the responsible party’s actions have caused you financial harm.
Financial harm can be the cost of medical care for your injuries, damages to your vehicle, loss of income from your injuries, future earning potential, and any other loss that your lawyer may find based on the facts of your case.
Work Closely With Your Lawyer
These four points are the basic elements of a winning negligence case. Your lawyer will build your entire case by showing these four elements. This is the basis for all negligence cases, no matter what type of accident or injury occurred.
Your lawyer will work diligently to prove each of these facts in your case. It is important that you work closely with them so that you can build the best possible case for your compensation claim.
Make sure that you submit any paperwork that your lawyer requests, attend all medical visits, show up to all scheduled meetings, and follow the guideline set by your lawyer throughout the case. In the end, you should be able to build a successful compensation claim.
