Defending A Personal Injury Lawsuit

Personal injury lawsuits are a result of negligence on the part of one or more parties. This is the reason why a lawyer would have to make sure that he or she established exactly who the at-fault party is. Aside from this, however, the lawyer would also have to consider if the plaintiff has a shared responsibility in the injury.

To understand how lawyers defend personal injury lawsuits, you need to know about the different ways personal injury lawsuits can happen. While most assume that, in order for personal injury lawsuit to be filed, there should be negligence, that is not always the case. In fact, a personal injury lawsuit can also be filed if there is an intention to harm.

When defending against personal injury lawsuits, one of the most common defenses used by lawyers would be to claim that the plaintiff shares some responsibility for the injury. This would lower the compensation that the plaintiff could ask for, depending on which state he has filed the lawsuit. In some states, shared responsibility would mean that the compensation would be lowered based on how much of the cause for the injury was due to the plaintiff’s fault. In others, however, a shared responsibility would mean that the defendant would not have to pay any compensation to the plaintiff.

Another common defense used by lawyers is “assumed risk”. In “assumed risk”, the risk for injury is known by the plaintiff beforehand; thus, the at-fault party is not the defendant. This defense is typically used when dangerous activities are concerned.