In a Lawrenceville personal injury case, the accident victim, also known as the plaintiff, has the legal burden of proof. The individual or entity that the plaintiff is suing, also known as the defendant, does not need to prove anything in the case.
Specifically, the plaintiff must meet their burden of proof by a standard known as the ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard, meaning the accident victim must demonstrate that it is more likely than not that the defendant was negligent and that the accident victim suffered injuries as a direct and proximate result of the defendant’s negligence.
Specifically, the accident victim must prove the following legal elements by a preponderance of the evidence:
- Duty element – First and foremost, you must demonstrate that the person or entity that was responsible for your accident owed you a duty of care. For example, motor vehicle operators owe all other drivers and pedestrians on or near the road a responsibility to operate their vehicles in a reasonable, prudent, safe, and careful manner at all times. Premises owners usually have a duty to ensure that their premises are kept free from hazards and defects, and that they repair or warn about all known hazards and defects that would not be readily apparent to a visitor upon a reasonable inspection. Product manufacturers and distributors have a duty to carefully manufacture, design, and test their products before making them available to the public for purchase.
- Breach element – In a personal injury case, the accident victim must demonstrate that the responsible person or entity violated the applicable duty of care and engaged in unreasonable behavior under the circumstances. For example, in a motor vehicle accident case, the at-fault driver could have been speeding or violating some other traffic law, or a premises owner failed to clean up a floor spill in a reasonable amount of time, resulting in a slip-and-fall accident. When a person or entity violates a statute that is on the books, that violation alone can be sufficient to establish a breach of the applicable duty of care in a civil personal injury case.
- Causation element – The accident victim must demonstrate that the accident (and subsequent injuries) would not have occurred without the responsible person or entity’s carelessness or negligence. The accident victim must also show that the accident was a foreseeable consequence of the at-fault party’s negligence.
- Damages element – Finally, the accident victim in a personal injury case must demonstrate that they suffered at least one personal injury and that the injury or injuries sustained actually resulted from the accident.
The experienced Lawrenceville personal injury lawyer at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC can assist you with satisfying all of the legal elements of your personal injury claim or lawsuit, putting you in a position to pursue and recover monetary damages in your case.
