Those who suffer from an injury due to the actions of the other people have the legal right to seek compensation from them. And if you hire a good quality personal injury lawyer such as Shaw Kreizer NJ, you can be rest assured of a hefty compensation. To this end, the lawyer will try to prove that the other party was negligent in fulfilling their safety duty or they are responsible under the concept of ‘strict liability’. And if you don’t have any idea what these terms mean, then this post is for you.
What You Need To Know About Negligence
If your lawyer will be fighting the personal injury lawsuit by arguing negligence on the part of the accused, then they will need to prove the following four things –
- Duty: The first thing to do is to establish that the accused had a duty to ensure the safety of their actions. Only when their duty has been shown can you move on to argue how negligence of the duty was the reason for the victim’s injury. For example, a workplace where drivers go out to supply the products is expected to take good care of the vehicle and supply their employees with the safest ones. This will be considered as the duty of the employer.
- Breach: Next, the lawyer needs to prove to the court that accused breached their duty. Taking the above example forward, the lawyer has to find out proof of the employer never having conducted the vehicle’s scheduled maintenance. And once the court is convinced of the proof, the accused will be held responsible for the breach of their duty.
- Causation: Thirdly, it needs to be proven that the breach of duty is what resulted in your injuries. So, just the fact that you had an accident in the company car will not make you eligible for compensation. Instead, it must be proven that you had the accident only because of a damage to an internal component of the engine which would have been solved had the employer fulfilled their duty of conducting a scheduled maintenance.
- Damages: And in the final stage, the damages of the victim must be explained, including physical injuries, mental anguish, pain, medical bills, loss of employment income, and so on.
What You Need To Know About Strict Liability
When it comes to using the strict liability argument for winning a personal injury compensation claim, your lawyer will generally look to prove the liability from one or all of these parties
- Manufacturer: When a manufacturer produces a product, they are expected to ensure that all products that are shipped from the production center are of perfect quality. There should be no manufacturing defects in them. If it turns out that the product the victim was using had a manufacturing defect and that it is this defect that caused the injury, the business will be held responsible for providing compensation to the injured.
- Distributor: Every distributor in the chain of distribution, right from the first distributor who collects the products wholesale from the manufacturer to the last distributor who supplies it to the retail stores, can also be held liable for any defect in the product. Once their fault is proven, they too can be made to pay compensation to the victim.
- Store Owner: Finally, if the product developed any defect at the hands of the store owner and you eventually get injured due to this defect, a claim for compensation can also be made against them. So, if the store owner causes a slight crack on a gas powered blower, and the device bounces onto your head resulting in hospital admittance, the lawyer can easily get you compensation from the store owner.
In addition to the above, you also need to account for injuries suffered because of handling borrowed products. Maybe you loaned a lawnmower from your friend and you get injured as a result. In such circumstances, the above rules can be applied and everyone from the manufacturer, distributor, and the store owner can be held liable to pay for your damages. In contrast, the person who loaned you the lawnmower will never be considered responsible for your injuries. The same also applies to items you receive as gifts. Whether you receive a product as a birthday gift, wedding gift, employer gift, or anything else, if it does cause you harm, you still can take legal recourse against the manufacturer of the product. However, just make sure that you do have the bill with you in such circumstances. Else, winning the case will be nearly impossible.
