In the aftermath of an accident, one of the main things that will be asked is who was at fault. Establishing liability is a key part of personal injury cases and can be a critical component in determining who is responsible for damages. Many accidents are the result of an individual who was not acting carefully and negligence is a major component to be assessed. Did the responsible party act carelessly or was the incident simply a mistake. Some accidents are unavoidable but it should be looked at whether or not a reasonable change in behavior could have prevented it.
Comparative negligence will often be used as one of the ways to evaluate liability. This includes comparing the actions of the responsible party to what a reasonable and prudent person in a similar situation would have done. On the other side of the case, it will also need to be looked into whether or not the injured party was in a location that they should not have been and if that could have been a factor for the accident. There are other instances that can occur, such as when the employer of the negligent party is liable, if the accident was the result of a defective product or if the incident took place on property that was not being maintained enough.
The way that liability is determined will differ case by case. A car accident case and a premises liability case would likely be assessed in varying ways. Liability may also not be completely one sides and in many instances the parties can share liability, even if they do not take equal portions. Have you or a loved suffered an injury? Was the accident the result of another person's negligence? Get in touch with my office as soon as possible. You can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.