To win compensation through a personal injury claim, you have to prove another party is liable for your injuries. You have to establish several elements of your theory of liability. In most cases, you will allege the other party is liable based on negligence. It will take various types of direct and circumstantial evidence to prove the defendant’s negligence harmed you.
The Elements of Negligence
There are four distinct elements of negligence. You have to prove each element to recover compensation. If you cannot establish one or more elements, then an insurer can deny you a settlement, or a jury can rule in the defendant’s favor.
Duty of Care
You must prove the defendant had a duty of care toward you. Usually, other people have a duty of ordinary care. They are supposed to act like reasonably prudent people would under the same or similar circumstances. In other words, they’re supposed to be careful and avoid hurting others. The defendant’s duty of care, though, can depend on the circumstances.
Breach of Duty
Once you prove the other party had a duty toward you, then you have to prove they breached it. You must present evidence that the defendant failed to act like they should or behaved badly. This might require showing a jury how someone should have acted compared to how the defendant actually behaved.
Causation
It is not enough that a defendant was careless. You have to prove their carelessness caused the accident in question. Causation has two parts: direct cause and proximate cause. You’ll have to establish that the occurrence would not have happened without the defendant’s conduct and that no one else’s conduct was a more significant cause (though more than one person can be liable for your injuries).
Damages
You have to prove you were actually hurt in the accident. You will need to present proof to the insurer or jury of your physical and emotional injuries. You will not receive compensation if the defendant was careless and caused an accident, but you are not injured.
Other Theories of Liability
Most personal injury claims are based on negligence. But this is only one theory of liability. There are many others. Depending on your circumstances, you might claim the defendant was grossly negligent, strictly liable, or breached a warranty or contract. Your personal injury lawyer will discuss the reason why the defendant is liable and the elements of proving that reason in court.
The Burden of Proof
You also have to meet a burden of proof. This is the standard of how much evidence you need to provide to prove your allegations. In a personal injury claim, you have to prove the defendant’s liability “by a preponderance of the evidence.” This means the jury can agree that it’s more likely than not the defendant is responsible for your injuries. This is a lesser burden of proof than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which is used in criminal cases.