Recovering Full and Fair Compensation for Your Losses
When you have been hurt in an accident, one of the first steps toward recovering compensation for your injuries is determining who caused the accident. Often there are a number of factors that combine to bring about an accident or mishap, so there may be a number of parties with some potential liability. In fact, it’s not uncommon of an injured person to have engaged in some carelessness or negligence as well, partially contributing to the circumstances that caused the loss.
First of all, you can bring a legal claim against anyone who can be shown to have engaged in negligence, as defined by the law. Under the law as it has developed over centuries, negligence requires that you show three things:
- That the defendant did not act as a reasonable person would under the circumstances
- That the failure to act as a reasonable person caused the accident
- That, as a result of the accident, you suffered actual losses
There’s no limit to the number of defendants that can be named in a lawsuit, but you’ll need to make the showing of negligence against each. As a general rule, the court will determine the degree of liability and allocate damages according. For example, if you suffer $100,000 in losses and there are two defendants—one deemed 60% liable and the other 40% liable—one will be required to pay you $60,000 and the other will be responsible for $40,000 in damages. In New Jersey, though, any defendant who is held to be 60% or more responsible is jointly and severally liable for all damages. That means that the injured party can recover all damages from that defendant and that party will need to seek reimbursement from other responsible parties.
Contact Our Office
At the Cintron Firm, LLC, we offer more than 14 years of experience to people in New Jersey facing a broad array of legal challenges. Send us an e-mail or call us at 201-791-1333 or (201) 535-0323 to set up an appointment.
