Liability is the legal term used when referring to the responsibility for an accident or injury. Determining Legal Liability in bodily injury claims, this determination is made by concluding that a party was negligent, or reckless. Mingus Mountain Law Group, injury attorneys serving Prescott and Flagstaff, offer some insight on how legal liability is determined.
Who Is At Fault?
While it may be easy to think that whoever caused an incident to occur must pay for all damages and injuries, there is more involved. Some accidents occur because two parties were careless. In that situation, the party who was less careful may be required to pay all or part of the damages to the party who was more careful.
In almost all accident situations, legal liability is based on recklessness, and one or more of the following:
- Was the injured party somewhere he or she should not have been? In such a case, the party that caused the injury might not be liable because that person had no “duty” to the injured person to be careful, and the injured party should have had no expectation of that duty. Trespassing is an example.
- If the injured party was also determined to be careless, compensation for the injury might be decreased based on the degree of carelessness that was involved.
- If a negligent person causes an accident while working, his or her employer may be found to be legally responsible. This theory of liability is called respondeat superior.
- An accident that occurs because a property is poorly maintained or built may place the owner of the property in a position of liability for carelessness in maintaining the property.
- If a defective product is involved, both the manufacturer and seller are liable regardless of which party created or allowed the defect, or exactly how the defect happened.
Your Own Carelessness
If your carelessness contributed to an accident, you could still receive some compensation from another party whose carelessness also contributed. The carelessness of each party will be compared, and compensation set by the percentage of responsibility. This rule is referred to as comparative negligence.
Determining legal liability can be complicated, which is why you should trust your personal injury case to Mingus Mountain Law Group. We are experienced personal injury lawyers and will help you through the maze of legalities after your car accident. Let us help you get the compensation you deserve. Call Mingus Mountain Law Group in Prescott at 928-775-9398 or in Flagstaff at 928-779-9304.
