What Is Negligence in a Personal Injury Case?

    MOBILE, AL, December 08, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 39 million people seek medical treatment each year for injury. While not all of these injuries are caused by another person, negligence is probably one of the most common types of personal injury lawsuits.

Attorney Deepti Asthana, Partner at Caldwell Wenzel Asthana, PC, explains, "Negligence in a personal injury case is proven by establishing that the other party owed you a duty of care and failed to fulfill that duty, that their failure caused your injuries and you suffered damages as a result of their actions or inactions."

What Is Negligence?
While each state has its own set of laws when it comes to personal injury cases, in general, to prove that someone else negligently caused injuries, several elements must be established. The five general elements of negligence are:
• Duty
• Breach of duty
• Cause in fact
• Proximate cause
• Damages.

More specifically, duty is established by the relationship between the parties requiring one of the parties to act in a certain way. Breach of duty occurs when a party fails to exercise reasonable care. This is usually a jury question. Cause in fact means that the negligent party was the cause of the injuries. Proximate cause refers to the foreseeability of harm. Damages refer to the actual damages to the person caused by the failure of a party to exercise reasonable care.

Contributory Negligence
In Alabama, an injured person can be prevented from recovering from injuries sustained in an accident if they were in any way at fault. While most states have adopted a comparative negligence doctrine, Alabama is one of the few that utilizes a strict contributory negligence standard. If you are even 1% at fault for your injuries, you will not be able to recover any compensation.

About Caldwell Wenzel Asthana, PC
If you are injured, confused and need help figuring out who to contact, you probably need a lawyer to advocate for you and guide you through the legal process. From initial assessment to settlement and everything in between, the lawyers at Caldwell Wenzel Asthana can help.

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