Tips for Defending Against a Personal Injury Lawsuit

If someone else is injured because of your driving or on your business property, then there's a possibility that you'll face a personal injury lawsuit.

Personal injury lawsuits are essential for helping an unlucky victim receive compensation for their suffering. However, the flip side of this is that they can also be used maliciously to scam you.

The outcomes of a personal injury lawsuit are often expensive and devastating, which means you'll want to know how to defend against a personal injury lawsuit. 

This information is also useful if you're suing another party for your injuries as it will show you where your weaknesses may be.

To help you navigate the stress of a personal injury lawsuit, we'll explain a few techniques to defend yourself below.

Proving Shared Fault

One of the best things you can do is to prove shared fault.

When an accident happens, at least one person is typically to blame through their negligence. Each state approaches accident fault a little differently, but there are three common interpretations that you might experience.

This includes pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence, and contributory negligence. Depending on which ruling your state uses, eligibility for compensation will vary.

With pure comparative negligence, a victim can receive damages equal to the amount of blame they aren't responsible for. Modified comparative negligence requires a victim to be less than half responsible for the accident.

The extreme ruling is contributory negligence, which will prohibit a victim with any amount of fault to receive damages.

Understanding this, you can see how proving fault would benefit your case. In a state with contributory negligence, you can throw the case out if you can show that the plaintiff is at all to blame. 

However, contributory negligence is rare and you're more likely to experience modified comparative negligence. This means that you need to find the other party is at least 50% responsible, which will protect you from needing to pay anything.

Fault and blame are critical for personal injury lawsuits, so you want to accurately determine who is at fault first when defending against one. 

Verify the Injury

Another useful tip is to verify the injury.

There are two key aspects to this; validating the extent of the injury and ensuring that the accident caused it.

The severity of an injury is significant because it speaks to how much pain and suffering a victim is experiencing. With greater pain and suffering, they'll be able to seek more money from you. 

If the plaintiff is making claims about how serious their injury is, they'll need medical records to back them up. Without proof, it'll be much harder for them to make a case.

Then there's the possibility that their injury is a pre-existing condition. The other party might have sustained their injury somewhere else and are using the accident to make you pay for it. 

This requires checking into the victim's medical records and seeing that they weren't treated for a similar injury in the past. It might not always be this easy, so you should also see if you can find a way to show that the accident couldn't have caused the injuries they're reporting.

While you don't want to assume the other party is lying, you want to verify their injury to make sure that it's something you caused and it's as bad as they say it is. 

Evaluate Risk Assumption

You should also evaluate if risk assumption is involved.

Risk assumption is the notion that some activities come with inherent risk. When someone participates in these activities, there's an understanding that an injury is possible. 

This means that injuries that result from activities with risk assumption are not eligible for a personal injury lawsuit. Because of this, you'll want to see if your situation involves any risk assumption.

Risk assumption can be interpreted in many ways that benefit you. For example, imagine having a neighbor that dislikes you and wants to screw you over.

Say that you have a dangerous dog with a history of biting that the neighbor positively knows about. If the neighbor goes into your yard to get your dog to bite them, then this would be eligible for risk assumption as your neighbor knew what they were getting into. 

Check to see if your case involves an inherent risk that would make the other party's injury something they accepted the risk of. 

Seek Out a Lawyer

The best thing you can do in a personal injury lawsuit is to seek out a lawyer.

The law is so complicated and tricky that no average person can navigate it. There are simply too many contingencies, nuances, and loopholes that make the law a field massively confusing for anyone who isn't a lawyer.

Alternatively, lawyers and attorneys have spent several years learning about and training to practice the law. They know better than anyone else how to handle legal disputes and what your best course of action is. 

When you have a personal injury lawsuit on your table, a good lawyer will help you defend against it. They'll understand the tactics mentioned above and more to prevent you from being forced to pay up. 

Even if you're positive that you didn't cause an accident, you need a lawyer to ensure that you aren't worked over in court. Going solo against a plaintiff who is likely to have a lawyer means that you'll show up unprepared and outmatched.

Closing Thoughts

If you own property or drive a car, an accident involving someone else and your car or property can make you liable for their injuries. As a result, they might seek compensation via a personal injury lawsuit.

When someone sues you for injury damages, you'll want to know how to defend against it. A few great techniques include proving shared fault, verifying their injury, evaluating risk assumption, and seeking out a lawyer.

Personal injury lawsuits happen every day and they can be costly to pay out for. There's no reason for you to pay for someone else's injuries if you aren't to blame. This is why you'll want the best defense possible, which entails the aid of a great lawyer. 

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of lawyerherald.com