Personal Injury Lawyer

Picture this: You’ve been injured by someone else’s careless mistake. Maybe you’re at a public park and fall off stairs not built to code. Maybe you’re on your neighbor’s back deck when it collapses. Now you have medical bills to pay but can’t go back to work until you’ve fully healed. How do you determine who is at fault to receive the compensation you deserve?

Determining Liability

In cases of personal injury, determining who is liable for the damage caused can be tricky, as a personal injury lawyer like one at Greenspan & Greenspan P.C. can tell you. It’s easy to point fingers, but often determining negligence is more complicated. Some cases are certainly cut and dry. A poorly maintained playground that causes injury would be the liability of whoever owns and operates the park. An exploding cellphone is the liability of either the manufacturer or seller.

To determine the legal liability of your accident, the attorneys and insurance companies involved will need to make a thorough investigation. This will include:

• Collecting evidence such as police reports and other documents
• Interviewing witnesses
• Consulting experts

Comparative Negligence

But what if you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be? Or what if you were warned about the dangers in the area? What if it had been your carelessness, such as using the playground equipment improperly, that caused your injury? The park operator has no duty of care for your risk-taking. And though you may want compensation, in many states you may be denied the full amount as liability is determined as a percentage in cases where you are partly at fault. In this comparative negligence, your carelessness (as a percentage of liability) is subtracted from the compensation the other party might owe.

More Than One Person Liable

Though it may sound sweeter to sue multiple defendants equally in a personal injury case, it could become a huge headache for you. Let’s take the case of an exploding cellphone. In some states, you would need to determine whether to settle your claim with the manufacturer or the seller. Perhaps the manufacturer has an insurance company willing to settle or maybe the company who sold the phone encouraged you to purchase a USB cable that charges the battery too fast to be safe. In other states, a percentage of liability is determined for each party involved in the accident. These multi-party cases can get incredibly complex as each party tries to shift the blame onto the others.

While finding fault for your injuries sounds like a monumental task, the good news is that you’re not alone in the process. Contact your local personal injury attorney today to find out how they can help you.