Taking legal action after being injured in a car accident is no small thing. To succeed, you’ll probably have to invest a lot of time and effort into building your case. Much of the focus will be on proving that another driver acted negligently and that that negligence caused the accident in question and your injuries, but there’s a lot more to a personal injury case than that.
Don’t forget to address proportionate fault
Under Texas law, the amount of compensation that you can recover from a successful personal injury lawsuit can be reduced by your allocation of fault. This means that a $100,000 award would be reduced to $70,000 if a judge or jury finds that you were 30% responsible for the accident. If you’re found to be more than 50% at fault, then you can be denied a recovery altogether.
This has major implications for how you approach your case. To start, you not only need to play aggressive offense as you try to impose liability, but you also need to be prepared to play defense against allegations of comparative negligence. This means that you need to look at your case with a critical eye so that you can anticipate the other side’s arguments and counter them accordingly. By doing so, you not only better position yourself for success at trial, but you also give yourself a clearer sense of how to negotiate a favorable resolution prior to trial.
Don’t leave yourself at risk of recovering less than you deserve
All of this is to say that you need to take a holistic approach to your case if you want to maximize your chances of success. To do so, you have to not only know the law, but you also need to know the legal tactics that are necessary to appropriately present your evidence, whether at the negotiation table or in court. It can be a daunting process for sure, but you don’t have to face it alone. Instead, an experienced legal advocate can help guide you through the process, fighting for you every step of the way.
