Personal injury accidents, be they car accidents or slips and falls on store floors, happen all the time. If you have ever been a victim of a personal injury accident, you have naturally wanted to sue the defendant. You need to hire a good personal injury lawyer if this is the case.

Background

Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that the defendant will almost certainly try to mitigate or even make his or her guilt disappear by using an affirmative defense. An affirmative defense is a set of facts that the defense sets forth to prove the defendant’s innocence. The grounds for affirmative defense can either be based on actual facts or on the stipulations of the governing law(s).

Superseding cause

A personal injury lawyer in Buena Park knows that a superseding cause occurs when the defendant acted negligently and the resulting events caused your personal injury accident. The defense will try to get out of paying you a settlement for your damages by proving the following:

● Another party caused the defendant’s conduct/actions
● A reasonable person would cause that party’s actions a very unusual way to react to that particular situation.
● The defendant was unaware of and was not expecting that (third) party to act in that manner
● The harm that the third party’s actions caused was not expected from the defendant.

Comparative fault of third parties

This applies when you were also at least partially at fault for your personal injury accident. Personal injury lawyers if the defense wants this claim to hold up in court, he or she must prove the following:

● The third party was negligent
● The third party’s negligence played a key role in causing your personal injuries.

You will also be ordered to pay a certain amount of the damages by the jury and judge if the defense is successful in proving that comparative fault existed. If you do indeed receive a settlement award, that amount will be reduced by the percentage of fault that you have in the case.

Primary assumption of risk

If the defense team uses this defense, they will try to prove that the defendant is not liable for your personal injuries because you knew the risks of a particularly dangerous activity (like jet skiing) before you participated in the activity. If you have relieved the defendant of this liability by signing a release or waiver form, the defense will use this against you in the court case.

Knowing the affirmative defenses is key

You can still win against the defendant provided you hire a personal injury lawyer and discuss it with him or her.