If you’ve been injured in an accident that was the fault of another party, you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit to get compensated for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical bills and other expenses.
To be successful in an injury claim, you must prove several elements of negligence. A lawyer can help you provide evidence of:
- Duty of care: In certain situations, individuals owe others a duty of care. For example, a storeowner’s duty of care is to ensure that customers are reasonably safe on the premises.
- Breach of duty: Once it is proven that a duty of care was owed to a plaintiff, it is necessary to prove that the defendant breached that duty by certain actions or inaction.
- Causation: In any personal injury claim, it must be relatively clear that the defendant’s negligence actually caused the plaintiff’s injury. It is somewhat common for the defense to argue that the injury occurred in a separate incident or somehow pre-existed the subject incident.
- Damages: The plaintiff must demonstrate that the incident resulted in actual injuries and that those injuries caused the medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering for which compensation is being sought.
If you can prove these elements of negligence, you have a good chance of success in a personal injury claim. To discuss your case, speak with an experienced Oxnard attorney.