Injured in an accident? The legal theory of negligence will play a large role in helping to determine who is responsible for your injury and whether they must compensate you for your damages and losses.
Whether we’re talking about a car accident, a slip-and-fall, or any other type of accident, each claim or case that would arise depends on the legal concept of negligence.
By understanding negligence, you can start to know how your New York personal injury case works.
What is negligence?
In its simplest form, negligence is either a failure to do something you’re supposed to do or a failure to avoid an action you shouldn’t take.
Under New York Law, negligence arises when you have a duty of care to someone but fail in that duty. A duty of care is a legal obligation.
For example, every time you get behind the wheel of a car, you have a duty of care to the other drivers to obey traffic laws and to take every measure you can take to avoid an accident. If you fail in that duty and cause an accident, the other driver could hold you accountable or be liable and sue you for damages.
How do lawyers establish negligence?
Lawyers establish negligence by gathering evidence proving that the defendant had a duty of care toward the plaintiff and by gathering evidence that the defendant failed in that duty.
Let’s take a slip-and-fall case. Property owners have a duty of care to anyone who visits their property. They must maintain the property to keep it safe and post warning signs about potential hazards. They are given a reasonable period of time to discover that a defect exists but must correct it.
If a landlord knows, for example, that the handrail on your apartment building stairs is loose and they fail to remedy that defect, they’ve been negligent towards anyone who interacts with that handrailing.
When someone reaches for the railing and falls down the stairs because it suddenly pulls loose from the wall, the landlord is responsible for that person’s injury.
The plaintiff’s lawyer will help establish that the defect existed, that the landlord had plenty of time to find out about the defect, and that the landlord took no steps to remedy the problem. Thus, the landlord can be found negligent.
What is comparative negligence?
In New York, assigning both parties some percentage of negligence in a case is possible. For example, in a car accident case, it is possible that neither party was fully adherent to New York traffic laws.
The blame may be apportioned 90% and 10%, 60% and 40%, or any other percentage combination.
Either party may sue regardless of their negligence percentage, but that percentage of negligence then reduces any eventual monetary settlement or award. Usually, the party most at fault doesn’t bother because their award will be reduced too much to make the lawsuit worthwhile.
How does no-fault law intersect with negligence?
In New York, car accident cases aren’t eligible for lawsuits unless they meet a certain threshold for severity.
Instead, insurers agree not to waste time worrying about which party was negligent or more negligent. Instead, each party’s insurance pays the damages until the severe injury threshold is met.
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Think you have a personal injury case?
The sooner you involve an experienced personal injury attorney, the better. Reach out to the team at Roth and Khalife to schedule a free consultation today.
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