Negligence is the core part of any personal injury case. If someone is negligent, they can cause serious bodily harm to someone, whether or not it is intentional.
To proceed with a lawsuit, the plaintiff needs three important pieces.
Injuries
First, there needs to be an injury. After sustaining head trauma, broken bones or other serious injuries, the plaintiff must explicitly state the damages they believe the defendant owes them. Damages can include the cost of medical bills, rehabilitation and the loss of current and future wages. The plaintiff can also seek non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
Breach of duty of care
Depending on the situation, one person may owe someone a standard of care. Those who owe a standard of care must follow protocol to avoid causing another person harm. Common situations include doctors with their patients or vehicle operators with their passengers or passerby. Since business owners owe it to their customers to not have glaring hazards, many business owners opt to get extra business insurance to cover general liability damages from things like slips and falls. The plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care and inevitably breached it.
Direct correlation
The plaintiff must show that the injury or injuries only occurred because of the breach of duty of care. They must also state that they would have been fine without this breach. The defendant could attempt to blame an injury on a preexisting condition if the plaintiff has one, which makes direct correlation so important.
Damages, the establishment of a duty of care and a direct correlation between the injury and the breach of duty of care are all essential to a personal injury case. Without all three pieces, a plaintiff cannot receive compensation.
