How to Prove Negligence in a Springfield Personal Injury Case

When you are seriously injured in Massachusetts, your life is turned upside down. Between hospital bills and lost work time, you could be facing financial hardship in just a matter of weeks or days. Fortunately, if another party’s negligence resulted in your injuries, you have legal options to avoid this financial hardship. You can file a lawsuit against the responsible party to get compensation for your losses. However, to win this lawsuit, you need to prove the other party was negligent. By understanding how to prove negligence in a Springfield personal injury case, you will improve your chances of winning a personal injury lawsuit in Massachusetts.

The Elements of Negligence

Winning a personal injury claim requires proving the four elements of negligence:

1. The Other Party Had an Obligation to Protect You From Harm

There are two ways you can prove that someone is obligated to protect you from harm. The first involves a contractual duty. For example, if you live in an apartment building, there may be a clause in your renter’s contract that requires the building owners to repair any damage to public areas as quickly as possible. If the railing in the stairwell is broken, the building owners are contractually obligated to repair it so that no one gets hurt while using the stairs.

Alternatively, some obligations are implicit. While there is no contractual obligation for another driver to protect you from harm, they are required to follow traffic safety laws and do their best to not harm anyone while driving.

2. The Other Party Violated Their Obligation

Continuing with the previous example, if the building owner delayed repairing the broken railway for several weeks after becoming aware of the danger, they would be violating their obligation. Similarly, if another driver was texting and driving, that careless violation of traffic laws would be a violation of the driver’s implied duty.

3. That Violation Resulted in Harm

This is the key element in many personal injury cases. Another party’s violation of their duty to protect others from harm matters only if that violation results in harm. For example, if a construction worker recklessly failed to place warning signs in an area where they were doing work, that recklessness would not result in a personal injury case if they were lucky and no one was injured.

However, if a careless driver swerved into another lane while texting and hit a vehicle, that car accident would directly result from the violation of their obligation. The same would be true if you slipped and fell in the apartment stairwell because of the broken railing.

4. Your Injuries Resulted in Significant Financial Harm

The final element in a personal injury case involves compensation. Even if another party’s negligence resulted in an injury, you do not have a case if the injury was minor. For example, if you slipped in the stairwell but only skinned your knee, that would not be a meaningful injury financially. In most cases, it would not result in medical bills, lost work time, or other incidental expenses. It would just hurt for a few days. You need to prove that your injuries resulted in meaningful financial losses — usually at least a few thousand dollars.

Were you seriously injured due to the actions of another in Springfield? Talk to attorneys Christopher F. Cava or Jennifer L. Cava-Foreman to discuss your legal options. Call our law firm at (413) 737-3430 or (413) 781-CAVA (2282) today.

How an Attorney Can Help You Prove Negligence in a Springfield Personal Injury Case

When you are seriously injured, the last thing you want to think about is dealing with insurance or legal bureaucracy. You need to focus on recovering from your injuries as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, you cannot wait forever to deal with insurance or lawsuits, and the longer you wait to act, the harder it will be to get fair compensation. The best way to resolve this dilemma is to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer at Cava Law Firm as soon as possible after suffering an injury.

Winning is NO Accident! The sooner you contact our law firm after a personal injury, the more likely it will be that we can get you fair compensation.

Moving quickly is important in every personal injury claim. If you intend to file a lawsuit, you have only three years to act. When you are recovering from serious injuries, your attorneys may need almost every day of those three years to gather evidence. This is because the insurance company or lawyers for the responsible party will fight as hard as possible to dismantle your case. Every piece of evidence adds up, and the goal is to gather enough that even the most adamant insurance company or defense lawyer will be unable to deny the accuracy of your claim.

With any luck, you will never have to prove negligence in a courtroom. Typically, lawsuits and insurance claims end with negotiated settlements. This is because defense lawyers and insurance companies are familiar with all Massachusetts laws and how personal injury claims are likely to play out in a courtroom. Based on the available evidence, they will often come to the same conclusions as your attorneys about how a theoretical case will end. Based on those conclusions, they are usually willing to negotiate a settlement just to avoid the costs involved with a trial.

Our legal team has decades of experience determining the value of lawsuits and negotiating fair settlements based on those values. It also helps that we are always willing to go to trial if the other party refuses to negotiate in good faith.

Contact Cava Law Firm Today to Consult With a Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyer

When you need to prove that another party was negligent, seek out the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer.

Do not wait after suffering an injury. Call Cava Law Firm at (413) 737-3430 or (413) 781-CAVA (2282) as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation.

Attorney Jennifer L. Cava-Foreman

Attorney Jennifer L. Cava-Foreman would like to take the guesswork out of choosing a lawyer by letting the facts and her winning verdicts speak for themselves. Attorney Cava-Foreman is known in the local courts and has firsthand experience with many types of cases ranging from personal injury to criminal defense. Attorney Cava-Foreman understands that every case and every client is different. Whether a client is injured or mixed up in a criminal matter, she will provide the legal advice needed and stand up for her client in court. [ Attorney Bio ]