Dealing with an injury you sustained in an accident is not just painful; it can be inconvenient, expensive, and unfair. Another person’s carelessness might have caused the accident, but you are the one bearing the consequences. Contacting a trusted attorney right away can ease the burden. A legal professional from Richmond Vona, LLC can explain your rights and how best to seek recovery for your losses.
Our firm helps people from all walks of life obtain compensation from negligent parties who caused them harm. If your injury required medical treatment or forced you to miss work or school, contact a Clarence personal injury lawyer to learn about your legal options.
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Breach of Duty Leads to Liability
Everyone has a legal duty to those around them to conform to certain standards of conduct to ensure safety. The precise standards depend on the circumstances. For example, drivers have a duty to obey safety laws when operating their vehicles. If they do not and someone suffers an injury because of it, the motorist can be considered negligent and held financially responsible for the ensuing damages. Other types of breached duty of care include:
Nursing home abuse or neglect
Medical malpractice
Semi-truck accidents
Bicycle and pedestrian collisions
Boat accidents
Slips and falls due to negligent property owners
Defective products and medical devices
Dangerous drugs
Motorcycle wrecks
Dog bites
Construction site incidents
Workplace injuries caused by a third party
The personal injury attorneys at our firm in Clarence can review any accident case to determine whether someone breached a duty of care. If so, they could pursue the at-fault party for damages.
Negligence Leads to Damages
An injured person’s compensation from a personal injury lawsuit is commonly referred to as their damages. Compensatory damages cover the plaintiff’s losses and are available in every personal injury case. These fall into two categories—economic damages and non-economic damages.
The expenses and financial losses the plaintiff suffered are their economic damages. These include lost wages, medical costs, and all other costs of treating and adapting to the injury. Non-economic losses are the emotional or subjective effects of an accident, like pain, disability, inconvenience, and psychological trauma. A Clarence accident attorney can advise an injured person about documenting all the expenses they incur and journaling the injury’s impact on their quality of life to maximize their potential recovery.
What is Contributory Negligence?
The injured person’s conduct sometimes contributes to the accident that caused their injury. Maybe they were texting instead of watching the sidewalk ahead when they fell, or they did not follow their doctor’s instructions to the letter.
Just as everyone has a duty not to endanger others, they also must take reasonable steps to keep themselves safe. However, just because a plaintiff could have been more careful does not mean they cannot collect damages from other parties who breached their duties.
New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 1411 states that an injured individual whose behavior contributed to an accident can collect partial damages. The amount they are found to be responsible for will be deducted from their award. For example, a person found to be 20 percent at fault would collect 80 percent of the damages for their injuries. This is known as contributory negligence. A Clarence personal injury attorney can ensure individuals understand this law and advocate for them to receive an appropriate portion of their damages.
Trust a Clarence Personal Injury Attorney to Handle Your Claim
When you get hurt in an accident, you need a strong advocate to guide you and ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. If you try to handle the matter without legal representation, your settlement might not cover your losses.
Our Clarence personal injury lawyers can provide skilled and caring representation to accident victims. Contact Richmond Vona, LLC today to schedule a free consultation with a capable professional.
With over 25 years of combined personal injury experience, our co-founding attorneys, John E. Richmond and Keith R. Vona, have helped injury victims and their family members recover more than $150 million in financial relief.
John E. Richmond
Co-Founding Member
As one of New York’s top personal injury attorneys, John E. Richmond understands that clients come first. With over a decade of experience representing plaintiffs, he knows how to hold negligent corporations and big insurance companies liable.
In his nearly 15 years in practice, Keith has been consistently recognized for his client service and record of results. He has been selected for inclusion in the New York Super Lawyers® Rising Stars list four times (2013 to 2016), an honor reserved for the top up-and-coming attorneys.
