Do You Have A Case?

After Your Crash Injury Blog

One of the most complicated questions I get asked is “Do I have a case?” On the surface the question is straightforward enough. The problem is most people don’t understand what elements must be in place to present a personal injury case. To oversimplify the matter, I’ve broken it down into the four (4) basic elements of every personal injury case, duty, breach, cause and damages. Often times when a person does not have a great case, 3 out of 4 of the elements are present, but not all!

The element of “duty” in cases where the at-fault party is a driver are fairly easy. All drivers have a “duty” to drive safely. The person is typically cited with a traffic citation for “following too closely” or “failure to yield”. Breach is what happens when the person violates that duty by acting in a way that is unsafe. There are few instances, such as the Georgia Emergency Doctrine, where the at fault driver can argue they had to act unsafely because an emergency occurred out of their control, but that is not usually the case. The element of “cause” relates to how the results of the breach and injured the victim. Damages are the actual injuries and expenses resulting from the breach. There must be proper evidence and documentation of the injuries.

There are also other factors such as how many other injuries have you had or do you have any preexisting conditions? Were you negligent in any way? These are the typical questions I will be asking you when you come to retain me to represent you in a car wreck personal injury case. Please call me at (404) 436-1529.