by Tim O’Hare
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In a personal injury case, liability refers to a person or entity being responsible for the damages suffered by another party in an injury-producing accident. In any personal injury claim, liability of one party must be established in order for an injured victim to recover any financial compensation for his or her claim.
It is the responsibility of the victim to prove liability. In some cases, more than one party may be found liable. For example, in a trucking accident, the driver may be found liable, but his or her employer may also be found partly responsible as well. Another example of a case where more than one party may be found negligent is a three-car accident where two people acted negligently, causing someone to be injured.
Negligence is the most common theory of liability in a personal injury case. Negligence means that the person or entity that caused the accident acted in an unreasonable manner. For example, a person may be found negligent in a car accident case if he or she was found to be speeding at the time of the accident, or perhaps ran a red light.
Proving negligence isn’t always obvious. To prove negligence, the injured party must establish that the defendant had a responsibility to take reasonable care to prevent an accident, and failed to do so. It must also be established that injury or harm to another person occurred as a result of one party’s negligence in order to recover damages.
Premises liability and products liability are two other types of situations that may be actionable. Premises liability stems from an accident occurring as a result of a hazard on someone’s property. Products liability is an all-encompassing term when someone is injured due to a product defect. A common example of this type of case is an injury due to a faulty automobile design, which result in the infamous recall.
Premises Liability — Property owners have a responsibility for maintaining their property in such a way that others are not risk of injury while on the property. A premises liability claim can be brought against a negligent property owner of commercial or private property. Most premises liability claims, however, are brought against owners of commercial properties.
Products Liability — Every year, thousands of recalls are issued on products, from vehicles to food to household items, because those items are defective or contaminated and are a potential harm to consumers. Manufacturers have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of their products, and to inform the public if they are at risk of injury, illness or death due to a defective product. Consumers who are injured by a defective product can file a legal claim against the manufacturer of that product.
If you have been injured or lost a loved one as a result of a traffic accident, a defective product, an accident on someone else’s property or the negligence of another individual, you likely have a personal injury case. Contact the experienced legal team at The Law Offices of Tim O’Hare. We will provide you a free initial consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys.
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