Negligence is a term used to associate below the standard of care in certain situations. A variety of cases may be due to some form of negligence, from car accidents to worker’s compensation cases. For example, a slip and fall accident could likely be caused by the negligence of another individual.
Depending on the specifics of your case, proving negligence may be necessary. There are five steps that shouldn’t be overlooked in order to prove negligence. We will cover these in more detail below!
Step 1: Contact an Attorney
With any legal matter, an attorney can help you to gather evidence and documentation, maintain necessary deadlines, and coach you through the entire process. When it comes to proving negligence, it can be a tricky task. Hiring an attorney to help you can ease a significant burden.
Below we’ve detailed the subsequent steps that an attorney will help you handle.
Step 2: Determining Duty of Care
Duty of Care refers to the responsibility of individuals involved in the accident at hand. For example, a workplace is responsible for maintaining safe working conditions for its employees. Drivers on the road are responsible for following traffic laws and maintaining awareness while on the road.
If negligence is involved, it will be important to determine the duty of care that was ignored and resulted in negligence.
Step 3: Proving a Breach of Duty
Once we’ve been able to determine the duty of care, in order to prove negligence took place, we will need to provide evidence that a breach of duty occurred. In the examples above, witness accounts and any additional documentation to prove your claims would be necessary. For example, photos of unsafe working conditions would be useful here.
Step 4: Causation
Once you’ve been able to provide information regarding the duty of care as well as proving a breach of duty, these must also be tied to the cause of your injuries.
The purpose of this step is, essentially, to bring the case together, proving your injuries were caused by the negligence of another and were not caused by an outside incident.
Step 5: Determining Damages and Injuries
In order for compensation to be feasible, it’s important to consider the injuries and damages you’ve sustained as a result of another’s negligence. Will you be out of work? Will you regain the proper function of your injuries? There are many factors to consider before settling on a dollar amount. A skilled attorney can help you determine a fair and reasonable amount for compensation.
Some injuries and damages may be difficult to prove as well. It’s crucial that you have as much evidence as possible to prove your claims. Gather medical records, doctor’s notes, and any other documentation that may help to prove your injuries and their correlation with the accident in question.
If you have been injured and are curious if negligence may have been the cause, reach out to an attorney at Pipas Law today!
