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Defences a Lawyer Can Use In a Personal Injury Case

31 December 2015 by Jessica Spencer

In case you are involved in a personal injury lawsuit, it is important to know some of the defences that a lawyer can use. If you are a defendant, you need to know the strategies that the plaintiff's side will use in the case. Alternatively, if you are the plaintiff, you need to know some of the strategies that can help you win the case. The defences typically involve arguments on the role of the plaintiff in causing the injury and what they did not do after the injury. This article focuses on the defences that can be made based on the role of the plaintiff in causing the accident.

Comparative Negligence

In determining the role of each party in an accident that causes personal injury, a formula is used to assess the level of involvement. For instance, a calculation can be done to find that the plaintiff contributed a certain percentage in the accident while the defendant contributed the rest. After the damages have been determined, the plaintiff's payment will be reduced by the percentage he or she contributed to the accident. This is a fair system, especially when determining personal injury cases involving motor vehicles. Your lawyer and the insurance company will work with other professionals to determine the percentages of culpability in the accident.

Contributory Negligence

This is a strict system of assessing damage. While comparative negligence allows the awarding of damages to the plaintiff even if they contributed to the accident, contributory negligence does not. This means that if the plaintiff is found to have had some role in causing the accident, they do not receive any compensation. If you are the plaintiff, your lawyer will try as much as possible to avoid using this rule. This means trying out strategies that ensure that the judge involved in the case does not decide it based on contributory negligence. However, if you are the plaintiff, your lawyer will try to establish that you had no role in causing the accident.

Assumption of Risk

One of the arguments that a lawyer can make in a personal injury case is that the injured person knew there was a risk of getting injured and assumed it. This means that the injured person willfully participated in an activity that he knew could get him injured. This form of defence can be used when dealing with contact sports like basketball, baseball or football. It can apply to both the players and the spectators. 

For more information, contact a company that specializes inlegal services.

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