There may be a number of defendants in a personal injury case. When multiple parties are discovered to be responsible for contributing to the accident in Onalsaka, this scenario occurs. It is more difficult to get damages from just one party in this type of personal injury action.
How much each party contributed to your injuries must be determined by the court, insurance companies, their attorneys, and your personal injury attorney. Typically, a percentage of the responsibility for the losses you seek will be assigned to each liable party. If you win at trial, each party is then liable for paying their share of the settlement or verdict. If you need help receiving compensation from multiple parties, contact an Onalsaka Car Accident attorney.
Do you have multiple parties involved in a personal injury claim? Know what to do next!
In multi-party personal injury lawsuits, the particulars of the accident must be investigated in order to determine the extent of each party’s responsibility. Copies of police records, accident reports, statements by witnesses, and all of the responses made by individuals involved in the accident will be reviewed by your attorney.
When multiple persons are involved, it is common for each of them to have a different version of what occurred. This is mainly due to our subjective opinions, which can be quite difficult to maintain, particularly after a serious accident. Admitting fault is the last thing that many people will do.
Determining Negligence in a Multi-Party Personal Injury Claim
The law employs two primary concepts to determine how much each person’s fault contributed to the accident:
- Contributory Negligence
- Comparative Negligence
Contributory Negligence: What Is It?
When someone is judged to have contributed to the accident and personal injuries, they are not entitled to reimbursement from other parties. This is referred to as contributory negligence. You can only get reimbursement if you were evaluated to be entirely at fault.
Continuing to our example, you were waiting for a red light to turn green while riding your motorcycle, and when it did, you were still stationary because three cars had slipped toward you and hit you.
Therefore, you did not result in the accident through negligence. You might seek damages for your personal injuries if you were in a state where contributory negligence occurred. You would not be able to pursue damages for the 99% of the accident that happened by the other parties, though, if it turns out that you were even 1% at fault.
Comparative negligence: what is it?
Comparative negligence evaluates how much each person was to blame for causing the accident. Each party is liable for paying part of the accident’s damages after a percentage has been established.
Let us take the situation from before and say that Party A was only 40% at fault. At this point, Party C is 20% at fault, and Party B is 30%. It was found that you were 10% at fault. Each party will get damages that are reduced by the proportion of their fault determined through comparative negligence.
The damages granted to the Party totaled $100,000. Party B suffers damages of $200,000. Party C suffers damages totaling $300,000. You suffer damages of $500,000. Damages would be paid in the following amount:
- You, Party B, and Party C will split the $60,000 in damages awarded to Party A. You would pay 10%, Party B would pay 30%, and Party C would pay 20%.
- You and one of the two parties would pay $140,000 in damages to Party B. You would get 10%, Party C would get 20%, and Party A would pay 40%.
- Party C would get $240,000 in damages, which was compensated for by the other parties. You would receive 10%, Party B 30%, and Party A 40%.
- The three individuals would pay you $450,000 in damages. 40% would go to Party A, 30% to Party B, and 20% to Party C.
