Though you can file a claim for personal injuries sustained as a result of the intentional act of another person, most personal injury claims are litigated under a legal theory of negligence or carelessness. To successfully recover damages under a theory of negligence, an injured party must show:
The law of negligence assumes that every person has a duty, in all conduct in their daily lives, to act as a reasonable person would. When driving a car, when building a home, when maintaining property, when designing or marketing a product, a person engaged in the activity must act reasonably. The “reasonable person” standard does not look at what a typical or average person would do, but instead is based on a sort of composite of community standards. In a personal injury case, the jury has the responsibility to determine whether the actions of the defendant were reasonable. Unreasonable actions are deemed a violation or “breach” of the standard of care.
Negligence law requires two types of causation:
Whether negligence is “simple” or “gross” can affect the amount of damages, as explained below. For example, a finding of simple negligence will not support punitive damages
Negligence law provides a basis for recovering actual losses. Even though a defendant may have acted carelessly, if there is no actual and provable monetary loss, there will be no financial recovery.The following types of damages are available to accident victims:
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