FAQs
- What is negligence?
- What is contributory negligence?
- What are the various types of damages recoverable by the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit?
- What types of non-economic damages are available on a personal injury claim in California?
- What is the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in California?
- If several defendants contributed to a plaintiff's injury, who will be held liable?
- Who is responsible for slip and fall injuries, particularly if the injury occurred on property that has been leased to a tenant?
What is negligence?
In California, a defendant may be liable for negligence if he or she caused an injury by failing to exercise the level of care expected of an ordinarily prudent person. Traditionally, negligence claims have the following elements: a duty of care; the breach of that duty of care; and causation of damage to another person or property. In a suit for personal injury due to negligence, the plaintiff must establish that the defendant's negligent act "caused" the plaintiff's injury. Causation sometimes can be a difficult element to prove, especially in cases involving complex events.
What is contributory negligence?
Traditionally, contributory negligence has been a defense against a negligence claim. When the injured party's own negligence contributes to the injury-causing event, the injured party is said to have acted with "contributory negligence." The intent behind the principle of contributory negligence is that the defendant should not be liable for that part of the injury that results from the injured party's own negligence. The plaintiff's contributory negligence is not necessarily a bar to recovery.
In California, percentages of negligence are assigned to the parties' behavior under a scheme called "comparative negligence." The plaintiff's recovery is reduced by whatever percentage of negligence is assigned to his or her behavior. For example, if the jury finds that the plaintiff in an accident case is 1% responsible for the accident and the defendant is 99% responsible, then the plaintiff is entitled to 99% of the total damages. He or she bears a 1% reduction because of his or her own negligence.
What are the various types of damages recoverable by the plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit?
The plaintiff may be eligible for various types of compensations, depending on the injury. The award of compensatory damages is based on facts and circumstances of each case, and can include damages for existing and future medical expenses, pain and suffering that the injury has caused to the injured party, and future pain and suffering. In addition, the compensation may cover monetary damages for lost past and future earnings, emotional distress, disability and/or disfigurement, disturbance of family bonding and relationships, damage to property, and damage to reputation.
Additionally, consequential damages and/or punitive damages may be available under the proper circumstances. In a personal injury suit, punitive damages may be awarded to punish the offender whose wanton, reckless, malicious, or intentional act caused the plaintiff's injury. Punitive damages also are called "exemplary damages." The intention behind awarding the punitive damages is to deter others from committing similar wrongful acts.
What types of non-economic damages are available on a personal injury claim in California?
Non-economic damages for the plaintiff's pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, humiliation, and injury to reputation may be recoverable in personal injury suits in California.
What is the statute of limitations for personal injury claims in California?
In California, cases for personal injuries must be filed within two years after the date of injury. An action for product liability must be brought within two years after the date the injury occurred.
An action for medical malpractice must be filed within the earlier of three years after the date of the act that led to injury or one year after the date the injury was, or reasonably should have been, discovered. This period of limitation applies to all plaintiffs who are six years old or older. For injury to a child under six years old, a suit must be filed by the later of the child's eighth birthday or three years after the injury.
The limitation period to bring a wrongful death action is two years after the date of death. If the wrongful death is caused by exposure to asbestos, then the suit must be filed within one year after the date of death or the date the plaintiff first knew or should have known that the death was due to the exposure to asbestos, whichever is later.
If several defendants contributed to a plaintiff's injury, who will be held liable?
The doctrine of "joint and several liability" has been followed and applied in California in the cases of injury caused by multiple defendants. Economic damages are calculated and distributed based on joint liability, in which all defendants are held jointly responsible for the payment of economic losses such as medical expenses and lost earnings. Should one defendant fail to pay his/her share, then the remaining defendants are equally liable for it.
The doctrine of "several liability" has been applied in cases of non-economic loss. In that situation, all defendants are individually liable for the payment of compensation to the plaintiff. Under several liability, if one party fails to pay the compensation, the other defendants are not held liable for the unpaid portion.
To recover damages for an injury caused by an accident, the plaintiff usually must have all the relevant information regarding his or her injury and the necessary supporting documents.
The essential documents that reveal the information about the injury or the accident may include medical bills, medical reports, police reports, names and addresses of the people involved in the accident, information regarding witnesses to the accident, details about any vehicles involved in the accident, details about the accident site, and insurance documents.
Generally, a plaintiff must obtain all the essential information and papers to establish the injury and the defendant's liability in order to recover full and fair compensation for the injury. Photographs can be helpful, and personal injury lawyers sometimes hire private investigators or engineers to gather information about accidents.
Who is responsible for slip and fall injuries, particularly if the injury occurred on property that has been leased to a tenant?
Premises liability law in California fixes the responsibility on the owners and tenants of residential, business, or government properties for injuries that occur on their premises due to negligence or lack of proper maintenance. Liability in a slip and fall case often depends on the facts and circumstances of the case. Sometimes, the premises owner may be liable, sometimes the tenant may be held responsible, and sometimes the injured visitor may be held responsible for his/her own injuries. A tenant has a duty to maintain the tenant's premises free of dangers that are foreseeable by an ordinary, reasonable, and prudent user. Both the owner of the premises and the tenant have a responsibility to maintain and manage the property in such a way that it is not dangerous to an ordinary user of the property. If a property owner allows a dangerous condition to exist on the premises, and if the condition is not obvious and open, then the owner may be liable for injuries to visitors that are caused by the dangerous condition.
