Possible Arguments From Defense Team In Personal Injury Case

The person that has, allegedly, caused an injury-linked accident has the right to present a defense. The defendant’s team of lawyers could use one or more of several different arguments, in an effort to persuade the jury against placing a large financial burden on the defendant.

Was the victim partly to blame?

The defense team would pose that question, if the jury had declared that the defendant was, indeed, liable for the damages. The defense lawyers would try to convince the jury that the victim was also partly to blame. If the jurists were to agree with that allegation, and if the trial were held in a state that followed the principle of traditional comparative negligence, the jury’s decision would determine the size of the defendant’s financial obligations.

If the jury were to feel that the victim was partly to blame for the accident, then the victim’s compensation would be reduced in proportion to the level of the same victim’s contribution to the accident-causing factors. If the trial were held in a state that followed the principle of modified comparative negligence, then the victim would get a reduced compensation, if he or she had not contributed to more than 50% of the factors that caused the accident.

Any victims that had contributed to more than 50% of those same factors would not receive any money. In states adhering to the principle known as contributory negligence, the defendant would not owe a single penny to any victim that was partly to blame. That would be true, even if the victim’s actions had contributed to only 1% of the accident-causing factors.

Victim’s complaint filed with court after the deadline

In order to sue the person responsible for a given accident, the victim must submit a complaint at the appropriate courthouse. If the court does not receive that complaint before a given deadline, the court will not allow the claims process to proceed any further. The deadline varies from state to state, and is determined by the state’s statute of limitations. Victims that miss the deadline have no way of getting compensated for their losses.

Failure on victim’s part to mitigate damages

Reference to that failure usually refers to the fact that the victim’s post-accident actions did not include that of paying a visit to a doctor, a hospital emergency room or a clinic, within the 24-hour period that followed the accident. Insurance companies focus on that period, in order to reduce chances for a worsening of any accident-linked injury. Victims that have paid a visit to a doctor, hospital or clinic should have mention of such a visit in their medical record, as per personal injury lawyer in Milton.

Assumption of risk

That is the typical defense, if a claimant has been injured while taking part in activities at a recreational facility, or at a sporting event. Yet this defense only works, if the nature of the victim’s injury corresponds with details on the sort of risk that he or she is supposed to have assumed.

The defense team must have proof of the fact that the plaintiff/victim had acknowledged and assumed a recognized risk. That proof usually comes in the form of a signed waiver. Yet a judge would refuse to accept the waiver as proof, if the plaintiff’s attorney had charged the defendant with gross negligence.