If you have been injured in an accident, someone else might be responsible for your injuries. You may be owed compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain & suffering. However, getting that compensation from the at-fault party will require proving liability.
Liability is when someone else has legal responsibility for paying for your damages or losses. There are several types of liability that may be present in personal injury cases in Northbrook. Keep reading below to learn more about the different types of liability and how to prove it.
Liability for Negligence
Negligence-based liability is the most common type of liability established in personal injury cases. When someone acts negligently, they behave carelessly and cause someone else to get hurt. To prove liability in a negligence case, the victim must prove the four legal elements of negligence. Those are:
- Duty of care: Under the circumstances, the defendant had a legal duty to uphold a certain standard of care (or to behave in a certain way). The general rule is that the defendant must act reasonably in any given situation.
- Breach of duty: A victim may prove a breach of duty by showing that the defendant failed to uphold the reasonable standard of care. In effect, they did not act reasonably under the circumstances.
- Causation: Victims must show that the defendant’s breach of duty was both a direct and foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s behavior.
- Damages: Some actual damages must have resulted from the behavior, such as injuries, medical bills, or lost wages.
Negligence claims are quite common and are often pursued after car accidents, bicycle accidents, and other types of accidents.
Liability for Intentional Conduct
Intentional torts are particularly serious because the actions that caused the injuries were deliberate, not accidental. Intentional torts may include a variety of bad conduct, such as:
- Assault
- Battery
- False imprisonment
- Trespass
- Conversion
In addition to civil liability, those who commit intentional torts may also be subject to criminal penalties. For instance, a defendant might face criminal charges for assault, and they could also be held responsible in civil court for the damages they caused.
In most personal injury cases, victims are entitled to recover both economic and non-economic damages. These damages include compensation for financial losses and pain and suffering. However, in rare cases, punitive damages are available as well. These damages punish the defendant for their bad behavior.
The victim must prove through clear and convincing evidence that the wrongdoer’s conduct was willful or wanton to obtain punitive damages. This means that they knew the possible outcomes of their behavior and chose to act in that manner anyway.
Strict Liability
Another form of liability is strict liability. Under this theory of liability, a defendant may be held responsible for the outcome of their actions, whether or not they were negligent. Simply by choosing to engage in certain behaviors, the defendant assumes liability for any damages they cause.
Dog Bites
Illinois follows a strict liability rule for injuries resulting from dog bites. An owner may be held responsible for injuries following a bite even if the dog has shown no prior history of aggression. To help limit this liability, dog owners should always maintain their dog on a leash and avoid situations that might cause the dog to bite someone.
Ultrahazardous Activities
Some activities are so inherently dangerous that it can be hard to minimize their risk. When someone engages in these types of behaviors, they may be held responsible for any damage they cause, even if they were not careless in their actions. For instance, companies that engage in tree cutting or blasting activities may face strict liability for any damage they cause during the process.
Product Liability
When a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer introduces a defective product into the chain of commerce, they can be held strictly liable for injuries resulting from that product’s use. There is no requirement that the victim prove negligence. Rather, they may only need to prove that the product was defective and that they were injured as a result.
Vicarious Liability
Vicarious liability is a special type of liability in which one person or entity may be held responsible for the actions of another. Some common examples include:
- A parent being held responsible for the actions of their child
- An employer being held responsible for the actions of their employee
Under vicarious liability, the parent or employer in the examples above would face the same liability as if they had committed the actions on their own.
Get Help from an Experienced Northbrook Personal Injury Lawyer at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have been injured because of someone else’s actions, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you prove liability and hold the responsible party accountable. The team at Kass & Moses Personal Injury Lawyers is ready to advocate for you and fight to get you the compensation you are owed.
Contact our Northbrook personal injury lawyers at (847) 513-9582 to schedule a free consultation.
