Car Accident Lawyer Woodland Hills, CA
If you have suffered as the result of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Generally speaking, actions are considered to be negligent if the carelessness of a person, business or other entity creates a situation that results in harm to a person. The responsible party can be held legally liable for damages caused to another and is often sued in court.
If you have been injured as a result of another’s negligence, it is imperative that you seek the counsel of a competent attorney as soon as possible.
Proving fault is paramount to making your case. There are four main elements that must be proven to win a negligence case. You must prove all four elements to prevail in a negligence case in court.
- Duty – The defendant has a duty of care to reasonably protect the rights or person of another. It is necessary to establish a relationship between the defendant and the plaintiff. See below in the section on breach of duty of care for examples of relationships that satisfy this criteria.
- Breach – The second element is when a defendant breaches that duty of care. This exists in situations where a defendant has a relationship with the injured party where they were obligated to provide due care and were negligent in doing so. One example is a reckless drier who doesn’t care for others on the road and causes an accident. Another example is a doctor who does not provide adequate or incorrect care for a patient. A further example could be if a person knows their dog is aggressive and takes the dog in public and the dog then hurts someone.
- Causation – This means that the defendants actions or inactions directly caused the injury to the plaintiff.
- Damages – A plaintiff must be able to prove damages as a result of the top 3 elements. Damages can include, property, physical, financial, emotional and more. The person or entity who caused the damages is liable to repay the plaintiff for his losses.
If you have been harmed as a result of the negligence of another person, contact a car accident lawyer Woodland Hills, CA trusts at Barry P. Goldberg as soon as possible. Protect your rights by not talking or negotiating with the other party or their insurance company or anyone by yourself. Do seek witnesses and keep impeccable records of any damages you incur to your property or person, or losses you incur due to loss of work, medical bills, etc.
By no means is this article meant to be legal advice. The information presented here is to help you understand the basics of what is involved in proving negligence.
