Does the evidence in your personal injury case seem stacked in your favor? If so, then you’re probably hopeful that you can successfully impose liability and recover compensation for the harm that’s been caused to you. However, winning a car accident personal injury case isn’t a given. As you proceed through your case, you’re bound to come up against aggressive defense strategies that’ll attempt to sidestep liability and reduce the damages that have to be paid out. To protect your claim and maximize your chances of obtaining the outcome that you want, you have to know how to effectively counter these defenses.
One of the most common that you’ll need to prepare for is comparative negligence. Here, the defense argues that your actions contributed to the accident, meaning that you’re partially to blame for the wreck. If the defense is successful in establishing that theory, then the jury in your case will assign a percentage of fault to you, and any compensation that’s awarded to you will be reduced by that same percentage of assigned fault. As you can see, then, a finding of comparative negligence can be disastrous to your claim, leaving you well short of what you need to pay for your medical care and offset other losses.
How can you defend against allegations of comparative fault?
Although comparative fault can be a strong defense argument in a personal injury case, there are steps you can take to mitigate its effectiveness. Let’s look at some ways you might be able to do that in your case:
- Attack the credibility of the defense’s evidence: To support their comparative fault arguments, the defense will rely upon witness testimony and physical evidence that tends to point the finger at you. But not all evidence is created equal. In fact, there may be effective ways to attack the reliability and thus the credibility of the defense’s arguments. For example, you could point out inconsistent statements made by key witnesses, which will render their testimony questionable.
- Utilize an effective expert witness: Expert testimony can carry a lot of weight. If you can find a well-qualified and persuasive expert, then they might be able to support your claim and dispel any accusations of comparative fault. Just be sure to conduct research on any potential expert witnesses, that way you can spot where they’re vulnerable to attack by the defense.
- Increase your showing of damages: Remember that this defense is comparative in nature. Therefore, even if you’re found to be partially at fault, you can still increase the amount of compensation you recover by showing more extensive damages. That’s why it’s crucial that you’re thorough in seeking medical and rehabilitative care, track every accident-related expense and document how your accident injuries have negatively affected your everyday life.
- Prepare for your deposition: There’s a strong chance that the defense will depose you prior to settlement negotiations and trial. Their strategy here is to learn what information you know and box you into a corner with either inconsistent statements that you’ve given or statements that they can contradict with other evidence. You need to be able to anticipate the defense’s line of questioning here so that you can answer in an honest way that still protects your interests.
Even if you made a mistake in the run up to your accident, you should still consider whether legal action is appropriate for you under the circumstances. Your attorney can help you do this, but make sure you take a holistic approach to analyzing your case so that you know its strengths and weaknesses. This will allow you to develop a more comprehensive case that is better suited to protecting your interests.