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The Significance of Liability in Tort Law...Proving liability in torts of negligence is an important part of winning favorable personal injury settlements.Understanding what "being liable" actually means is essential if you want to make a strong case. Liability refers to where the fault lies. Liability in tort law is all about who is responsible for an accident or injury, and whoever possesses the most liability will ultimately have to pay for it. The truth is that in most personal injury accident claims liability is easy to establish. In most cases it requires little more than common sense and logic. "Liability in tort" sounds like legal mumbo-jumbo and a complex issue that requires a lot of legal knowledge to determine. It is in some ways the holy grail of personal injury settlements because as long as this issue remains uncertain the insurance companies can argue against settling a claim. Here’s the idea behind Liability: In almost all cases, an accident happens as a result of someone being negligent. In non legal terms, it results from someone being careless. The person (or business, agency, etc.) that was negligent is then responsible to pay damages to the injured person. That's liability. It falls on the person who caused the accident to happen. This is why the moments immediately following an accident are so important. This is the time when you can best remember what happened, find witnesses who can verify what happened and even take auto accident photos to use as evidence later on. Liability is easy to establish if the cause of the accident is easy to establish. Here are some simplified examples showing liability: 1) If a car fails to signal for a turn and another driver is injured after hitting the car then the non-signaling driver was negligent, and therefore liable. 2) If there is a slip and fall accident resulting from a business not salting their icy sidewalk then the business was negligent, and therefore liable. 3) If someone is burned using an electrical product that malfunctioned during normal use then the manufacturer was negligent, and therefore liable. Now you see how clear cut liability can be. Unfortunately most cases aren't that simple. In all of the above cases there is a very good chance that the victim was partially at fault. 1) Maybe the second driver was talking on their cell phone and distracted. 2) Perhaps the person who slipped wasn’t wearing proper winter footwear. 3) It could be that the burn victim used the product properly but didn’t wear recommended safety gear. This is why the issue of liability should be forefront in your mind from the moment you come out of an accident. While both people are often partially at fault, the law stresses — in most states — that the person who was more negligent must pay the other at least a portion of the damages. The more the defendant can prove you were also partially liable the less they will have to pay. As you read on we'll discuss ways to protect yourself in these situations. There are steps you can take after an accident, and even before an accident, that can reduce the amount of liability that can be attached to you. Return from Liability in Tort to Personal Injury Settlements Return from Liability in Tort to the Personal Injury Settlement Guide How Much Is Your Case Worth? Find out NOW! Complete this form for a FREE case review by an experienced attorney... The accuracy of information on this site is not guaranteed. Information on this site is strictly opinion and should not be considered formal legal advice. Under no circumstances should the information on this site be used to make decisions about the proper course of a legal matter. Click below to read our full User Agreement, Disclaimer and Copyright Information.
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