A Basic Overview Of Legal Principles In Your Personal Injury Case

You may be sure that another person harmed you through their wrongful actions. It can be complicated, however, to prove to a court that your injuries were the result of negligence. That is best accomplished with the help of an experienced personal injury attorney like Sam Dennis.

When you contact Sam Dennis Law, Mr. Dennis will utilize nearly 30 years of legal experience as well as his wide network of legal colleagues and other professionals to help you seek maximum compensation for your injuries. On this page, you can learn the basics of Georgia negligence laws and what it takes to win an injury or wrongful death claim.

How Is Negligence Defined In Georgia?

As members of a society, each of us owes a duty of care to others to act in a manner that minimizes the risk of injuries and death. The specific duty depends on the nature of the relationship – a doctor owes a much greater duty of care to a patient than two relative strangers owe to one another.

Negligence occurs when someone breaches their duty of care by acting in a manner that a reasonable person wouldn’t have acted, or failing to act in a manner that a reasonable person would have. Negligence becomes legally actionable if the four criteria listed below are met.

The Elements Of Proving Negligence

In order to win compensation in a personal injury claim, you and your attorney must demonstrate four criteria. This applies to any type of injury claim, but a car accident is used as an example.

Element 1: The defendant owed you a duty of care.

All drivers have a duty of care to obey traffic laws and drive in a manner that minimizes the risk of harm to others.

Element 2: The defendant breached their duty of care.

This is easy to prove if they broke a traffic law like speeding or driving drunk. Even if they didn’t clearly violate a law, they may have been driving in a manner they knew or should have known to be unsafe.

Element 3: The defendant’s breach of duty caused your injuries.

A distracted driver ran a red light and T-boned your car in the middle of intersection. You would have been unharmed but for the distracted driver’s actions.

Element 4: You suffered damages due as a result of the defendant’s actions.

As a legal term, damages refers to harms and losses that are compensated with money. They include things like medical bills, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering and more.

Sam Dennis has an in-depth knowledge of personal injury and trial law. In fact, he travels the country educating other attorneys on these and other important topics. He also works with an in-house accident investigator and collaborates with other professionals who can support his client’s claims with evidence and specialized knowledge.

What If You Were Partially At Fault? Can You Still Seek Compensation?

Blame for an accident isn’t always one-sided. It is possible that you share some fault for causing the accident or contributing to your own injuries. Thankfully, you may still be entitled to compensation under Georgia’s doctrine of “modified comparative negligence,” sometimes referred to as “modified contributory negligence.”

When fault is shared, a judge or jury may assign a percentage of blame to each party. You can claim compensation so long as you are less than 50% at fault. The caveat, however, is that your compensation will be reduced by the level of fault assigned to you. If you were deemed 30% at fault, for instance, you could still collect 70% of the damages you were seeking.

Defendants commonly try to shift blame in order to reduce their own liability. As your attorney, Sam Dennis will thoroughly investigate the accident to prove that the other party was largely or entirely to blame, therefore maximizing your compensation.

Get Answers To Your Personal Injury Questions In A Free Consultation

Based in Valdosta, Sam Dennis Law serves clients throughout Georgia. Mr. Dennis is able to serve truck accident victims nationwide.

To schedule a free consultation about your claim, call 229-244-4428 or submit an online contact form.