Burden of Proof: Proving Fault in a Personal Injury Case

In Colorado, victims who suffer harm as the result of negligence have the legal right to file personal injury claims in order to recover their damages. Aside from certain instances where the legal doctrine of strict liability applies – meaning it doesn’t matter if someone was negligent or intended to hurt another – most personal injury cases are hinged on being able to prove that another party was negligent and at fault for your accident and injuries.

At Jordan Law, our Denver personal injury lawyers have dedicated their professional and personal lives to fighting on behalf of victims who were injured through no fault of their own. Over the years, we have used our experience to secure numerous successful outcomes and recover tens of millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. This is largely due to our ability to diligently investigate accidents and convincingly prove that our clients were harmed by the actions of another party.

When working to prove fault and liability in a personal injury case, our legal team focuses on two major factors:

• The relationship between you and the other party – Personal injury claims are based on the existence of a legal duty between the defendant and the plaintiff. This means it must be established that some type of legal duty was owed to you. In cases involving car accidents, all drivers on the road are expected to uphold their obligation of driving safely and in accordance to the law. This is their legal duty. As another example, nursing homes have the legal duty of providing safe facilities and services to residents.
• Whether negligence caused the accident – Negligence is the standard for holding a person or company at fault and liable for your damages. Generally, a person is considered negligent when they fail to act in a manner that a reasonable person would be expected act. When drivers speed or get behind the wheel while intoxicated, they are negligent and have breached their legal duty to drive safely and in a way that would have avoided preventable harm.

Proving these two factors may seem succinct and simple, but it requires a great deal of investigatory work in order to provide evidence that rises to the burden of proof in civil cases. This burden of proof is known as a preponderance of the evidence – or simply,more likely than not. If the evidence provided in a claim shows that the at-fault party’s negligence more likely than not caused your accident and injuries, you have grounds to recover your damages.

When it can be shown that the at-fault party breached their legal duty and was negligent, victims put themselves in the best position possible for recovering their damages. This is why our legal team also focuses on ensuring victims receive all the medical treatment they need and that we carefully calculate the damages they incurred as a direct result of the accident. Damages will vary in every case, but can include medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional injuries, lost wages, and more.

While it’s important to know how personal injury claims work, it’s not your job nor your area of expertise to sort through the legal complexities of proving fault and liability. That’s why our attorneys make it a point to handle all legal work on behalf of our clients while they recover, and to always keep them apprised of the progress of their case. If you have questions about fault and liability, or wish to discuss how we may be able to help prove that another party is responsible for compensating you for your damages, contact us today for a free consultation.