When someone gets injured due to another person’s negligence, they may choose to file a personal injury claim. The plaintiff, in this case, is seeking compensation for damages or injuries caused by the defendant’s actions.
Unfortunately, they often face different defenses that they must overcome before winning their client’s case when it comes to these types of claims. They include:
Assumption of Risk
In personal injury cases, assumption of risk is a defense most often employed by attorneys for their clients who get accused of negligence or wrongdoing in causing an accident that has resulted in injuries to someone else.
The person claiming injury must prove all the elements required by law before this doctrine will not apply as a valid defense (such as proving that they were injured because there was no warning about risks).
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For example, suppose you got into a car and drove off without checking whether you turned the key on. In that case, other drivers might say that since this action is necessary to operate a car, you were taking on the risk of not being able to start it up again and having an accident.
This defense is also often used when somebody has gotten injured while engaging in dangerous activities such as rock climbing or mountain biking – where there’s always potential for injury because of running into obstacles along the way.
Contributory Negligence
Contributory negligence is a common defense used in personal injury cases. The contributory negligence of the injured plaintiff means that they are less deserving of compensation or not to be compensated at all.
This can stem from an individual’s conduct which contributed to their injuries, such as intoxication and driving without a seatbelt when it would have been prudent for them to do so.
It could also include other factors outside one’s control like bad weather conditions or people failing to act responsibly on the public property leading others into danger who then get hurt because they couldn’t take appropriate precautions themselves.
There’s no perfect way around this issue, but if you’re thinking about taking legal action against someone else, ensure you select the best top injury lawyers you will work with to get the compensation you deserve
Pre-existing Injuries
This defense can be a tricky one. It may not always apply, but you want to know your rights and what the law says about this topic when it does. Essentially, pre-existing injuries are any injury that already existed before an accident occurred or at least came into existence within three months afterward. In other words, if you were in a car accident and had an injury before the crash, it was there beforehand.
You cannot be compensated for these injuries because someone else’s negligence has not injured you. This defense may vary depending on where you live but is usually to protect people who are disabled or ill from being able to sue everyone they come into contact with.
Statute of Limitations
Statutes of limitations are laws that set a deadline on how long you have to file your injury claim. They vary by state and usually range from two years to six years, depending on the severity of the incident. The statute of limitations for these cases is generally three or four years in Pennsylvania (the only exception being for medical malpractice claims, which have a statute of two years).
Statutes of limitations can be defense attorneys’ most powerful tool when fighting personal injury claims. If your claim gets denied because the statute has passed since you were injured and you are unaware that there is still time to file in court, then it’s too late for any further action on your part. If you’re dealing with a statute of limitation, you must be informed.
Release of Liability Waiver
A release of liability waiver is a contract in which one party waives their right to seek redress or compensation for any injury, damage, or loss that the other party may have caused. Generally speaking, you will see this type of clause at a public event such as an amusement park ride where there are risks inherent, and it would be impractical for the organizers to ensure that everyone is safe.
However, it can also be found in many recreational activities where a participant may not have enough expertise or knowledge about safety precautions.
A personal injury claim is often complex for a plaintiff to prove, and in many cases, these claims get dismissed before they even get to a courtroom. However, if you can make it through this challenging process, your chances of getting compensated for damages increase exponentially if you have an experienced personal injury attorney by your side.