In order to succeed on a personal injury claim, you have to prove certain legal elements. Amongst them are negligence, causation, and damages. In other words, you need to be diligent in your efforts to show that another person acted in a way that caused your accident, thereby leaving you with physical, emotional, and financial harm. It’s not an easy task, but your fight to recover the compensation you need doesn’t end there.
The importance of comparative negligence
Under Connecticut law, the amount of recoverable compensation in a personal injury case can be reduced if the victim was partially at fault. This is known as comparative negligence. The way it works is that the jury will hear evidence regarding the accident and then allocate fault based on a percentage. If you win your case, then your award will be decreased by the percent of fault assigned to you. Therefore, a 30% fault finding will reduce a $100,000 award to $70,000. A finding of 51% or more of the fault for the accident in question will lead to a bar on recovery, meaning that you won’t be able to recover anything.
Be prepared to defend yourself
With comparative negligence in play, you need to be prepared to not only present a negligence case against the defendant, but also defend yourself against allegations of wrongdoing. This means that you need to take a holistic approach to your case and know how to minimize or entirely shut down arguments made by the other side. This might require the use of an expert witness or even an accident deconstructionist, and it certainly requires you to know the rules of evidence.
Handle these matters with confidence
It’s easy to get tangled up in the legal complexities of these cases, especially when you just want the accountability and compensation needed to allow you to move on with life. That’s why competent legal assistance is readily available. These skillful attorneys can ensure that your case is properly evaluated so that you can build the strategy needed to protect your claim from every conceivable angle. Hopefully then you can reach a favorable outcome and move on with your life and your recovery.
