To proceed with a negligence case one must start of with how an accident happened just because you are injured does not mean that you would be successful. Their must be a problem or defect that caused one to be injured. That the owner of the property knew of the defect before the accident occurred and that the injury that was caused by the defect was foreseeable to cause injury.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/18/2011

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Yes. Negligence must usually be established (there are some exceptions). Often by a jury, but sometimes by a judge.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/17/2011

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Well, that's why we go to law school! In a nutshell, negligence is the failure to act as a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances. For example, it is not reasonably prudent to allow your property to fall into disrepair and injure someone; it is not reasonably prudent to cross the double yellow line to pass a car and strike another. Depending on the case, there are certain elements of proof that must be brought forth. Some personal injury cases do not require a showing of negligence: a fall from an elevated height in a construction zone falls under the category of "absolute liability" and the owner of the property can be held liable even without a showing of negligence; if a person is injured by a product that was defective, that is "strict liability" and the defendant can be held liable for that. Again, there are a lot of particulars depending on the circumstances. For a more detailed explanation, find a copy of "Pattern Jury Instructions" available at any law library and probably some public librarys as well.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/17/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Negligence is the existence of a duty, a breach of that duty, that causes damages. Duties are determined by case law, statute or common sense. Breach is the failure to satisfy that duty. Damages are personal injury, property, etc. Causation is proving that the breach of the duty caused the damages. Example, duty to stay on right side of road (common sense, case law and statute), crossing center line, hitting car, causing death = negligence. At trial, you must establish all of the elements of negligence by a standard of more likely than not (preponderance of the evidence) to recover but, a case can settle at anytime to avoid the risk of a verdict or various other reasons. Tough question to answer here, hope I helped.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 11/17/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.