Liability, as a legal term, is a legal claim against another person or entity for damages. In the economic sense, liability means an amount owed to something or someone. Liability in a legal claim means that someone is responsible for the claimant’s damages and owes them money as a result. Before you can collect damages in a personal injury claim, you need to establish liability by the at-fault party.
If you were injured in an accident, you could have a legal right to seek compensation from the wrongdoing party. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you prove liability in your case.
Understanding Negligence and Liability in a Personal Injury Case
Most personal injury claims involve negligence. Negligence is a legal theory in which a person injured by someone else’s act or omission can seek legal liability and monetary damages. Personal injury claims based on negligence can include:
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bite incidents
- Catastrophic injury accidents
- Wrongful death claims
To prove negligence in a personal injury claim, the claimant must prove four essential elements of negligence in Illinois:
- Duty of care: that the other party owed a duty to act in a certain way;
- Breach of duty: that the other party failed to act as a reasonable person should have under the circumstances;
- Causation: that the defendant’s breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury and damages;
- Damages: that the injured victim suffered actual damages as a result of the defendant’s breach of duty.
The at-fault liability must be found liable for negligence or an intentional act before they can be required to pay your monetary damages. The four elements above must be proven in order to show negligence.
Proving Liability in a Personal Injury Case
Personal injury claims have two main parts a plaintiff must prove: liability and damages. Once liability is proven, the focus turns to what damages are proper in the case. To prove liability in most cases, the elements of negligence described above are involved.
How does a plaintiff prove liability in a personal injury case? This is done through the use of evidence and its application to the negligence elements. Evidence in a personal injury claim can include any of the following and more:
- Physical evidence
- Photographs
- Video recordings
- Police reports
- Medical records
- Witness statements and testimony
- Expert reports and testimony
Your personal injury attorney will carefully assemble the evidence available in your case to build your claim and advance your legal strategy. To succeed in a personal injury case, plaintiffs need to prove liability by a preponderance of the evidence. What this means is that you’ll need to show it was more likely than not that the other party’s negligence caused your injuries. If a judge or jury finds the other party was more than 50% responsible for the accident, they can be found legally liable. Plaintiffs will use evidence to tip the scale toward liability by the other party in their case.
Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?
Not all personal injury cases go to trial. In fact, some personal injury claims do not even go to court. A personal injury claim in Illinois can be handled through the insurance claims process before a lawsuit is filed. Often, insurance adjusters will evaluate the potential worth of a claim and negotiate a settlement – either with the accident victim directly or with their attorney. It is almost always helpful to have an experienced personal injury lawyer involved during negotiations with an insurance company.
If your personal injury case involves a lawsuit, the plaintiff and defendant will engage in discovery – which is the exchange of information and evidence regarding the case. Often, this process will include settlement negotiations and mediation as well. If the defendant’s side admits liability or understands that liability could be proven at trial, they might prefer to settle the case.
Once liability is established, the parties will then move on toward what a fair financial settlement would be. If liability is established at a jury trial, the jury would be asked to consider next what money damages should be awarded to the plaintiff.
What Types of Damages Can You Recover in an Illinois Personal Injury Case?
In a personal injury claim, injured victims can seek economic damages, which are the actual financial costs related to the accident. Medical bills, lost wages, out of pocket costs, and other expenses fall in this category. Non-economic damages are also available and include pain and suffering, loss of companionship, emotional distress, and other losses caused by an accident. These are harder to quantify but just as significant as the dollars-and-cents costs of an accident.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Illinois?
The statute of limitations in Illinois for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of the accident in most cases. Missing the deadline to file can result in the permanent loss of your legal right to sue the person who injured you. For that reason and many others, it is critical to contact a personal injury lawyer in Chicago, Illinois, as soon as you think you might have a claim.
Contact a Chicago, Illinois, Personal Injury Lawyer To Schedule a Free Consultation
To collect financial compensation in a Chicago, Illinois, personal injury claim, you will need to prove liability by another person or entity. To do so, you will use the evidence in your case to prove the other party’s negligence in causing your injuries. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help. Contact Powell and Pisman Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today.