Establishing financial liability in Georgia personal injury cases requires substantial evidence that the other party acted negligently or in some way that caused your serious injuries. The evidence must show the physical, emotional, and financial harm they caused.
An Atlanta personal injury attorney at Bayuk Pratt can evaluate your car accident and help you understand who is financially responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and other losses. Our law firm can file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault party and seek compensation on your behalf. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about your right to pursue compensation.
What Is Liability?
In a personal injury case, liability refers to a person or entity’s legal responsibility for causing harm or injury to someone else. Proving liability usually requires showing that the at-fault party’s actions were negligent or reckless.
Some examples of when a person or entity might bear legal responsibility for an accident include:
- A drunk driver causing a motor vehicle accident
- A wet floor in a grocery store causing a shopper to slip and fall and injure themself
- A poorly maintained road allowing rainwater to collect on the surface, leading to an accident
- Someone falling down a hotel stairwell that the property owner failed to light properly
Determining liability in a personal injury claim requires investigating the cause of the accident, identifying the parties involved, and documenting the resulting injuries. An experienced personal injury lawyer knows what evidence is needed to develop a case, where to search for it, and how to use pieces of evidence to build a persuasive case for fair compensation.
What Is Strict Liability?
Strict liability is a theory of law under which you do not have to prove the other party was at fault to recover compensation.
Under strict liability laws, a person or company can be held responsible for injuries regardless of whether they acted negligently. The most common examples of these types of cases include:
- Defective Products: Manufacturers and distributors can be held liable for injuries caused by unsafe products, even if they took reasonable safety measures during production.
- Dangerous Animals: In some instances, pet owners may be held responsible for injuries caused by their animals without proof of negligence.
Strict liability is designed to protect people from inherently dangerous situations by placing the burden on those with the most power to prevent injury. Therefore, the focus in these cases shifts to whether the product or animal caused harm rather than proving negligence.
What Is Vicarious Liability?
Sometimes, a person or business can be held responsible for the actions of another. This is known as vicarious liability. An example of this would be a trucking company failing to carefully check the driving records of the drivers they hire, and a driver causing an accident, resulting in the trucking company being held responsible due to its negligent hiring practices.
Vicarious liability is designed to hold all responsible parties accountable for injuries they cause and to allow the victim to recover compensation for their losses
Why Is Determining Liability Important in Personal Injury Claims in Georgia?
Determining liability is the foundation of a successful personal injury claim. Some of the most significant include:
- Recovering Compensation: You must identify the responsible party with substantial evidence, or you will have no legal basis for compensation. Most personal injury cases are settled without a trial. But if you don’t have sufficient evidence to support your claim and prove liability, insurance companies will refuse to pay, and a judge will dismiss the lawsuit.
- Determining Who Pays: Multiple people or entities may be involved in the incident, but not all of them are necessarily liable for the accident. An examination of the evidence will show who the responsible party is, whether it’s an individual, a business, a property owner, a government entity, or multiple parties.
- Providing Negotiating Power: Strong evidence that proves the at-fault party’s responsibility for your injuries makes it far more challenging for insurance companies to deny your claim.
What Happens If More Than One Person Is At Fault in a Georgia Personal Injury Case?
Many accidents involve shared fault. This can affect the approach a personal injury lawyer may take to building your case and the compensation you may recover.
What Happens When You’re Partially At Fault?
If you bear some responsibility for the accident, you may still seek compensation based on Georgia’s modified comparative negligence system. Under Georgia law, any party less than 50 percent at fault may recover compensation, but their compensation will be reduced in proportion to their percentage of fault.
For example, if a jury awards $100,000 in damages, but you were found to be 20% at fault, your compensation will be reduced by 20% and your final recovery will be $80,000
What Happens When Multiple Parties Other Than You Are At Fault?
Sometimes, more than one party bears some responsibility for the accident. For instance, if a delivery driver causes a car crash on the job, both the driver and their employer may be responsible. In Georgia, each at-fault party can be held responsible for compensating injury victims based on their percentage of fault.
How Do You Prove Liability in Personal Injury Cases?
Proving liability requires gathering and presenting substantial evidence to show who was at fault, and the impact the accident has had on the victim’s life and finances. An experienced personal injury attorney may gather the following types of evidence when building a personal injury lawsuit:
- Accident reports
- Surveillance camera footage
- Witness statements
- Accident scene photos and videos
- Medical expenses
- Financial records
- Expert testimony
Evidence can be lost or destroyed over time, and witness memories can fade. It’s crucial to act quickly when pursuing a personal injury claim. The sooner you contact a lawyer, the easier it will be to build a compelling case.
Contact a Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer Today
At Bayuk Pratt, we have extensive experience establishing liability and pursuing maximum compensation for our clients. We have recovered over $300 million in settlements and verdicts for accident victims who sought our legal representation. Our legal team can gather all available evidence to show who has financial responsibility for your injuries and hold them accountable. Contact us today for a free consultation with an Atlanta personal injury lawyer.
