Elements To Be Proven For Each Type of Personal Injury Case

There are three different types of personal injury cases. The type of case that a claimant has chosen to file determines what elements must be proven by that same claimant.

Elements to be proven for case of intentional tort

Element of intention: Show that the defendant knew that his or her action would cause the claimant/plaintiff to be injured.
Element of causation: Show that the defendant’s intentional action did indeed injury the claimant/plaintiff.
Evidence of damages: Have evidence of the fact that the victim sustained an injury. Be able to prove that the extent of that injury could be quantified. Be able to show the creation of medical expenses.

What claimant must prove in case of negligence?

Prove existence of a duty: The defendant had a duty of care towards the claimant.
Prove a breaching of the same duty: The defendant’s actions demonstrated a willingness to breach that recognized duty.
Prove existence of causation: The defendant’s actions were the single cause of the injury sustained by the claimant/plaintiff. Without that proof, the claimant /plaintiff has no reason to expect to receive all of the desired compensation.

Elements to be proven in case of strict liability

Introduction of a new element, one called strict liability: A specific activity created the personal injury case that has been filed. Examples of such an activity would include the following: raising wild animals, raising a pet that is known to be dangerous, making a dangerous product, or placing an unsatisfactory warning on a dangerous item, that is being sold to consumers.

Exhibition of causation: Evidence that the defendant should have realized the potential danger created by his or her actions. Evidence that the defendant failed to put in place the measures that ought to avoid the occurrence of a possible injury. Both of those must be shown, in order to present a proof of causation.

Evidence of damages: In the case of a defective product, the user would be injured. In the case where someone had been raising a harmful animal, a member of the public could be injured, when proper avoidance measures were not used.

The resolution of the three types of cases differs. In the case of negligence, Accident Lawyer in Waterloo knows that most claimants accept a negotiated settlement. Yet cases involving intentional tort or strict liability seldom end with a negotiated settlement. Instead, the claimant usually files a lawsuit. Consequently, a jury and judge decide whether or not the plaintiff deserves to receive an award.

Sometimes, in a case of intentional tort or strict liability there might be more than the simple awarded compensation. It could be that the defendant gets hit with a penalty, in the form of an added award for the plaintiff.