Common Personal Injury Defense Strategies To Prepare For

When you sustain an injury as a result of the negligent or wrongful actions of another, one remedy is to file a personal injury lawsuit. These types of lawsuits can deal with anything from car accidents to slip-and-fall accidents.

Proving that someone else is responsible for your injury is not as simple as one would assume. There are specific elements that must be proven, and there are also many defenses that can be raised by a defendant that can potentially limit or completely eradicate any ability for you to recover monetary damages. This is why accident lawyers in Atlanta are in such high demand. To overcome the defenses that a defendant may raise, it is going to take planning, a good strategy and a good attorney on your side.

Common Personal Injury Defenses

It is said that the best offense is a sound defense, and this rings true when it comes to personal injury lawsuits. Certain defenses can turn the tables on a plaintiff and apportion part of the liability for an accident on them. Here a few of the more commonly raised defenses that are utilized in personal injury lawsuits:

  • Comparative negligence. This is a defense to a negligence allegation that alleges that a plaintiff is somewhat at fault for his or her injury through their own negligence. If found negligent, the amount of recoverable damages can be reduced by the percentage of negligence attributed to a plaintiff. For example, if in a car accident you are found to be 25 percent responsible for your injury and the injury is worth $10,000, then you will only recover $7,500. Any amount you receive as a damage award will be reduced by 25 percent to offset your liability.
  • Assumption of risk. A defendant may argue that an individual “assumed the risk” of engaging in the activity that led to their injury because they knew of the inherent dangerous nature of the activity and still decided to partake in the activity.
  • Contributory negligence.Contributory negligence is a far stricter defense than comparative negligence. Under this theory, if a plaintiff is responsible for the injury at all, then they cannot recover. So if you get into an accident and are found 2 percent responsible while the other driver is 98 percent responsible, you cannot recover any damages via a personal injury lawsuit. Thankfully, this defense is not recognized in the State of Georgia.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, there are many Atlanta accident injury lawyers available to you. Take advantage of the best, and contact McAleer Law today for a free consultation with one of our expert accident lawyers in Atlanta.