What Is The Role Of Negligence In A Personal Injury Claim?

Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers

When a person suffers an injury, they have the right to file a personal injury claim against the person responsible for causing that injury. In Atlanta, GA, everyone has the legal right to file such a claim. However, the plaintiff will have to show that the defendant caused the injury because of their negligence. The role of negligence in a personal injury claim is extremely important. If you intend to file a personal injury claim and need more information, speak with one of our Atlanta personal injury lawyers as soon as possible.

What is Negligence?

In general, every individual is required to demonstrate a certain level of “duty of care” towards another person. In other words, ‘duty of care’ means that an individual should make an effort to prevent harm to another individual.

When you file a personal injury claim, the first thing that your Atlanta personal injury lawyers will want do is to prove that the other individual was negligent. They will do so by establishing that they had a duty of care which they failed to demonstrate, causing the plaintiff to suffer an injury. For example, after surgery, the nurse is supposed to count all the instruments to make sure that none is left behind in the patient; if there is an instrument missing, the duty of care is to obtain an x-ray and look for the instrument inside the patient. If the surgeon decides to forgo the x-ray and closes the patient, and if at a later stage the patient gets sick because of this, the surgeon will be considered negligent. So, if the standard of care was to obtain an x-ray, and if the surgeon didn’t, they have breached the duty of care.

Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Can Prove Negligence

Once a breach is established, the next step which your Atlanta personal injury lawyers will take is to show that the negligence resulted in serious injuries to the plaintiff. For example, in the above case, the patient may have suffered pain or bleeding from the instrument and would need a second surgery to remove the instrument. This could potentially result in a prolonged hospital stay, an ugly scar, loss of function and delayed return to normality.

In all personal injury lawsuits, the Atlanta personal injury lawyers for the plaintiff have to prove negligence and that the actions of the defendant failed to meet the required reasonable standard of care.

What is the appropriate level of standard of care?

The appropriate level of care varies from situation to situation. For example; a truck driver has a legal duty to operate the truck with reasonable care at all times, which includes taking into account factors like the weather, traffic conditions, and visibility. In Georgia, all drivers are supposed to abide by traffic laws. Hence, if snow and ice falls on the roads the previous night, all drivers are supposed to drive slowly, watch for other drivers and show courtesy to other drivers. However, if the truck driver is speeding and causes a car accident, that would be considered a breach of the standard of care because a normal person would not be speeding in such circumstances.

Once a breach in duty of care has been established, the attorney will then determine how the defendant violated that standard of care. In other words, what did the defendant do or did not do that made the conduct unreasonable under the circumstances. Hence, this is where negligence will be established.

Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Can Prove Injury

The last step is to show how that breach in care caused harm to the plaintiff. Atlanta personal injury lawyers have to prove that their client suffered a physical or mental injury, economic loss, pain, or suffering. The only way that a plaintiff will receive any compensation is if they can prove it.

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in Atlanta

If you have suffered a personal injury and you want to seek compensation for your injuries, you can file a claim. Call our Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Cain Injury Law. Our personal injury lawyer will gather the evidence regarding the injury and how it occurred. They will then fight for your rights and get you the compensation you deserve. Call the Atlanta personal injury lawyers at Cain Injury Law today to find out how they can help you get the justice you deserve.