How To Identify Negligence On Los Angeles Personal Injury Claims

If you’ve been in an accident and suffered injuries, you have the legal option to sue the parties who were responsible for it. Personal injury claim damages in California are meant to compensate victims and help them recover from an accident caused by someone else.

However, you can’t just sue whoever you want, whenever you want to. You need to prove the following:

• That the defendant was negligent.

• You suffered damages as a result of the negligence.

• You have proof of the damages you want to claim.

In other words, you need to have a solid claim to ensure a successful one. Getting a California personal injury lawyer is one of the best ways to ensure you have a solid claim, gather enough proof, and meet crucial deadlines.

How To Identify Liability In California Personal Injury Laws

So, what entails the process of identifying liable parties in California? First, let’s look at how Los Angeles lawyers for personal injury correctly identify the people or agencies you should sue:

• The defendant should have a duty of care: This refers to the responsibility of someone or an agency relevant to their industry, niche, or work. Examples are as follows:

  • Drivers must drive safely

  • Manufacturers are liable for defective products that harm consumers

  • Maintenance crews or departments are responsible for a vehicle’s upkeep

  • Bus owners need to check their vehicles, pay for maintenance, and train drivers

• Defendant violated the duty of care: Some examples of breaching the duty of care are as follows:

  • The driver got behind the wheel while intoxicated

  • The manufacturer released toxic products because they didn’t thoroughly do quality control

  • The maintenance department didn’t check for the vehicle’s engine

  • The bus owner did not check the qualifications of their drivers

• The violation caused your accident: You need to prove that the breach directly led to your accident. This is a way to link the liable parties and their actions to your accident. 

• You suffered injuries and losses because of the accident: You need to identify the losses you’ve suffered because of the accident. Those losses could be financial or emotional, causing economic, non-economic, or both types of damages.

Do note that you can sue multiple parties at once. Anyone who has breached their duty of care that collectively contributed to the accident can be considered liable for your damages.

To ensure you don’t miss anyone or identify the wrong parties, consult a California personal injury lawyer to help you. An experienced attorney can review your case and advise you on the best route to take.

How Much Can You Get From A Successful Personal Injury Claim In California?

Once you and your personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles identify the parties responsible for your injuries, you can start determining your damages. This could include the following:

• Economic damages, including medication, damaged property, lost wages, hospital expenses, etc. These types of damages are much easier to prove with receipts, documents, contracts, and other available records of the costs and losses.

• Non-economic damages, including “intangible” damages like emotional distress, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of the enjoyment of life, etc.

• Punitive damages, for when the liable party has to be penalized for particularly egregious behavior. This discourages them and other property owners from repeating the mistake.

That said, no two cases are the same. How much you can get from your California personal injury claim depends on how much you’ve lost and how well you can prove your damages. That said, if you can list your damages, you can closely approximate how much you can get from the claim.