In a California personal injury case, liability just means:
- The legal responsibility for paying for the injured person’s damages.
Liability is one of—if not the—most important things about any personal injury case. And the reason for this is simple: it tells you who has to pay for your damages. But figuring it out can be difficult. That’s where our team at Maison Law can step in and help. Set up a free consultation today to learn more.
How is Liability Set in a Personal Injury Case
Even though it’s a fairly straightforward legal concept, liability can be difficult to figure out in real life–even in the context of your accident. Basically, there’s a lot of moving parts in a typical accident, and all of them get mixed into what went wrong and how it left you injured. But everything starts with negligence. It’s the legal standard for establishing liability, and it’s made up of four parts:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Damages
You need all four of these things to establish liability, so it’s about answering “yes” to the following questions:
- Was there a duty of care?
- Was that duty of care breached?
- Did the breach of duty cause your accident?
- Did you experience some type of damage?
If the answer is yes to all of these, then you have negligence–and by extension, liability. But it’s helpful to look at real world examples:
- A driver that was speeding or texting when they collided with you on I-5.
- You slipped on a wet floor at a grocery store in Bakersfield because no one put up a warning sign, even though employees knew about the spill.
- You were hurt walking through an apartment complex in Sacramento where a broken stair or uneven walkway had been left unfixed for months.
- The City of Glendale didn’t fix a broken sidewalk, and you were hurt after you tripped on it and fell into the road.
As you can see, liability is heavily dependent on where and why an accident happened. But with this definition, you can also see why it’s so important. Liability is about tracing the injury back to the choices that led to it. Once you understand who had control, who knew about the risk, and who failed to act, it becomes clearer where responsibility truly belongs.
Maison Law Can Help You With a Personal Injury Case in California
After you’re hurt in an accident in California, you have enough to worry about. You shouldn’t also have to try to comb through every detail of what happened to figure out who might be liable. At Maison Law, our team of personal injury lawyers can:
- Look at the evidence to figure out what went wrong and who’s responsible.
- Explain your options and what the path forward looks like.
- Handle all the talks with the liable person’s insurance company.
Our goal is to make this process easier for you, not add to the stress and uncertainty you’re already going through. For help, reach out today to set up a free consultation.
