Personal injury cases often work their way through the court system. You might go through your whole life without needing to pursue one, but then again, a situation might arise where you feel that’s the best path forward. If so, you should probably know what the term “negligence” means, since it frequently makes an appearance in these cases.
Proving negligence requires legal expertise, and that is worth talking about. We’ll do a deep dive into this subject right now.
What Constitutes a Personal Injury Case?
First, let us make sure you understand what we mean when we discuss personal injury cases. This term refers to a legal proceeding where you sue another individual or business entity. In some instances, you might bring a personal injury case where you sue multiple individuals or entities.
A personal injury case falls under the definition of a civil lawsuit. Civil and criminal lawsuits differ. If some person or entity harms you, you can pursue a civil case against them, but if you win, they won’t go to jail. Instead, they must probably pay you money because a jury agrees they bear responsibility for your injury or illness.
If you sue someone, that doesn’t mean the law might not go after them as well. They may face criminal charges besides the civil ones you’re bringing. The police and prosecutors can handle that. You’re bringing legal action for money, and you and your lawyer should focus on that area.
Must You Get a Lawyer to File a Personal Injury Claim?
Strictly speaking, you don’t need an attorney to go after someone for personal injury. You can file the paperwork and start this process on your own.
However, that’s usually not a smart idea. Unless you’re a personal injury lawyer yourself, you likely don’t know the law well enough to use it to your advantage while trying to seek justice for what a person or company did to you.
The individual or entity you sue will likely get their own lawyer. That attorney could force you into making a mistake if you don’t know this area of the law. That’s why hiring a lawyer when pursuing a personal injury case probably makes sense.
What Does Negligence Mean in This Context?
As for negligence, it means a person or company acted in a way that did not meet the standard of care or diligence that conventional society would expect. In other words, this person or business entity should have acted a certain way, and they didn’t do so.
When you start considering personal injury cases and why you might bring a lawsuit of this type, you can probably also start thinking of examples of negligence pretty easily. Maybe a driver exceeded the speed limit by quite a lot, and they hit your car, injuring you. A jury might consider that negligence. If the driver also ingested alcohol before they drove or they consumed drugs, that makes proving negligence much easier.
If a doctor gave you the wrong medication and it made you very ill, that’s probably negligence and also medical malpractice. If you broke your ankle falling down the steps of someone’s house, and you can establish that they knew about the damaged steps but didn’t fix them, that’s likely negligence as well.
The more personal injury cases you can think of, the more negligence examples you can probably call to mind. It is a common word that your lawyer might utter in the courtroom if you are not able to settle with the person or entity that harmed you before you ever get to the trial phase.
How Can You Establish Negligence?
In personal injury cases, you must often establish negligence to win. You likely won’t get very far if it’s your word against the person you say harmed you, though.
If you’re suing a company, you might find proving negligence even more challenging. That’s because if you’re going up against a large corporate entity, they may have lawyers on retainer who remain ready to dispute these claims.
To establish negligence, you must gather as much evidence that supports your claim as you can. That’s not always easy. It depends on the situation.
If another driver hit you and injured you, you might prove negligence through a police report stating the cops gave this driver a breathalyzer test that they failed. If a doctor did something that harmed you, you might use eyewitness testimony from nurses or hospital administrators who saw the incident. The court can subpoena them and make them testify.
Any time you have relevant documents, eyewitness testimony, or any other evidence to back up your assertion, that makes proving negligence much easier. You must also establish that in a similar situation, a responsible individual would have acted differently than the person or company that harmed you.
What Happens if You Establish Negligence?
If you can establish negligence beyond a reasonable doubt, you will likely win your lawsuit if it gets to a jury’s verdict. However, very few lawsuits ever get that far. That’s because the person or entity that harmed you will likely offer you a settlement before that happens.
Sometimes, the person or entity’s lawyer might tell them during the discovery phase that they should settle. They will likely do this if they see that you have overwhelming evidence that you can use against their client in court. A defendant like a big corporation might also offer a settlement if they do not want the negative publicity that a long, drawn-out court battle will likely bring.
You can either accept the settlement offer if you feel it’s enough, or else you can make a counteroffer or reject the notion outright and go to trial. That’s your decision. You can ask your attorney for advice if you are unsure of the best path forward.
Proving negligence usually means you can expect money in a civil case. That’s why this term matters so much in legal circles.
