Screening A Car Accident Case

I’m about to say something rather unpopular among the plaintiff’s bar — “Just because you have car

accident, that doesn’t mean you file a lawsuit.”  It is important to explore all your options, but you need to have a realistic outlook on the merits of your potential legal matter.

I have been asked by many young attorneys, “how do you know which case to sign up and which ones to reject?”  There are many thing to consider with evaluating whether or not to accept a personal injury case.   

I remember sitting in my first year law school torts class.  My professor stated it rather cogently.  “Class, in order to have a plaintiff’s personal injury case, you need — causation, negligence, and injury.”  Whenever a car accident client comes into my office for a consultation, those three elements still ring true.

First, you need negligence.  You need a defendant’s action or failure to act to have violated a standard of care.

Second, you need causation.  You need the defendant’s negligence to cause the injury.

Third, you need an compensable injury.  Not every injury is compensable.  

Its important to remember that a plaintiff’s lawyer has the burden of proof.  In other words, the plaintiff’s lawyer must prove his case before the defense has to present any evidence to controvert the claims.  In a car accident case the burden of proof is the preponderance of of proof standard.

If you have a car accident and would like to learn your rights, give our car accident attorneys a call at 800-893-9645.  We aggressively fight for our clients and work to reach the best possible outcome for their case.