The Role Of Contributory Negligence In Personal Injury Cases

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Contributory Negligence and Tort

The doctrine of contributory negligence states that, in a claim for personal injury, the negligence on the part of the plaintiff and the defendant are considered by the courts before determining the amount of damages the plaintiff is entitled to. If the negligence on the part of the plaintiff was partially responsible for the accident, then his negligence is considered to have contributed to the overall negligence due to which the accident ensued. Such negligence by the plaintiff is known as contributory negligence in law.

Examples of Contributory Negligence

In a case involving contributory negligence, it is for insurance attorneys of the defendant to present before the court that negligence on both sides that was responsible for the accident. Thereby the injuries caused and costs incurred should be viewed through the principle of contributory negligence. Thus the liability of the insurance company reduces.

Negligence can be the result of action or inaction by the parties involved and if one person does not act with reasonable care, then his action may result in injury to the other person. He is therefore said to have been negligent which may be intentional or otherwise.
In the case of wrongful death and injuries happening at worksites, the claim will be in the form of wrongful death claims and Workers’ Compensation claims rather than personal injuries claim. However, the underlying governing principle will be negligence in both cases.

In cases involving contributory negligence, it is for the claiming party to substantiate that the accident and personal injuries sustained were only due to the negligence of the other party, the defendant, and he was no way responsible for the negligence in any part thereof. If the defendant is able to establish even 1% of contributory negligence from the plaintiff, then he will be held liable for same.

Thus from what the doctrine of contributory negligence states and embodies is that there are three

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Contributory Negligence and Remedies

basic elements that contribute to negligence in personal injury cases.

(i)                 The claimant is partly negligent and responsible for the accident.

(ii)               Such negligence resulted in personal injury or damage.

(iii)             The defendant deserves reduced damages that are just and equitable in the eye of the law.

States have followed that the doctrine does not redeem the defendant of his fault nor does it forgive him of the act. Instead, the law that deals with contributory negligence states that the plaintiff or the victim to accept the share of his fault thereby barring him from getting compensated to the extent of his share to the negligence.

 

 

 

Steps To File A Habeas Corpus For Family Cases

Writ of habeas corpus definition

How to file a writ of Habeas corpus petition

Habeas Corpus is a writ or procedure that protects a person from illegal detention by another person(s) or other authorities by being ordered to appear in court to argue their case against such a detention. In such case, the holding authority has to comply with the court’s ruling and present the detainee failing which he or she could be tried for contempt. Although usually used in criminal cases, this procedure can be also used for family law disputes. The writ of habeas corpus is a protection force against violation of a person’s fundamental right of freedom.

For example, a parent can try to secure the custody of a minor child if it happens that the other parent has taken illegal custody of the same. Thus, according to the writ of habeas corpus definition, the dispute will have to be taken to court and the arguments of both parents will be heard.

Given below are the guidelines to file a family law based writ of habeas corpus:

Instructions

Steps for filing the writ in family law cases

Steps for filing the writ in family law cases

  • Consult a lawyer and discuss your case. The lawyer will then prepare a case and decide how the petition will be filed.
  • Verify which court has jurisdiction to hear your writ. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear the writ in New York and the Superior Court in Georgia.
  • Fill the writ with all the required details. The case petition is to be written at the top of the writ defining the various fields. The writ of habeas corpus definition should include the name of the court, the county and the state from where you are filing the petition.
  • In the “Petitioner” field, write your name. Fill in the “Respondent” field as “v. [Person wrongfully detaining child]“.
  • Center the title and write it under the case caption. Label the title as “Petition for Habeas Corpus.
  • Mention the reasons for filing the writ. Write in detail the events the occurred that made you file the case. Mention about yourself and how your child was wrongfully detained.
  • Take a copy of the petition and send it to the clerk in the court who has jurisdiction.
  • Along with the petition, mention the details of the current location of the respondent so that the court can send a notice and a copy of the document.

A minimum of ten days is granted to the defendant to appear before the court along with the detainee.

Steps to File A Petition For Habeas Corpus

writ of habeas corpus definition

How to File a Petition for Habeas Corpus

The term Habeas Corpus is a Latin word which actually means “you have the body.” Nowadays it guards the rights of each citizen when it comes to unlawful custody. No one has the right to hurt your physical integrity by keeping you in custody without fair and solid evidence. The writ of habeas corpus definition is a legal instrument that proves time and again to be confusing to most of us. The accused prisoner or his lawyer files a petition of habeas corpus when he would like the court to issue hear a case against the detention of a person. The court will then have to decide if the detention is permissible under law. Habeas corpus petitions are treated by court with higher priority than any other civil case and are placed at the top of court dockets.

Learning how to file a habeas corpus petition is simple once you familiarize yourself with how the legal system works. In this article, you will learn step by step procedure to file a habeas corpus petition!

Instructions to file a petition for habeas corpus:

introduction to habeas corpus

introduction to habeas corpus

  • First you need to make sure that the habeas corpus form you have acquired is authentic. You can purchase the original habeas corpus form from either the federal court or the state court.
  • Study the form thoroughly. In the form you will find provisions to enter the details of the prisoner and those of the person representing him.
  • The habeas corpus petition can be filed in cases where a person has had to suffer illegal imprisonment, when probation is unfairly denied or when bail is due. Depending on the issues of the case, prepare a statement that is to be addressed to the court.
  • As the next step the court will either issue a writ of habeas corpus definition that includes a hearing of the petition filed with the presence of the detaining authority and the detainee or decline the petition altogether. The authority against which the writ has been issued needs to respond within 10days.

So it is always safe to have a good idea of the legal system before applying habeas corpus petition and in fact, any other legal adventure for that matter. You can avail more information about the topic online. Students of law need to go through this very important aspect of law in detail by going through previous judgments on the same.

What Do You Mean By Pure Comparative Fault?

Pure Comparative negligence

how to win Comparative negligence

If you’re involved in the process of deciding the extent of damages and fault in a claim over personal injury, many different routes can be taken to determine what goes to whom. Pure comparative negligence is what renders the claimant eligible to receive damages but if it’s proven that they were responsible in part for the accident, then their damages would be reduced proportionately, according the amount of fault they are assigned. For instance, if the court decides that the injured party must be assigned 20% of the blame for the accident, then the damages they receive would be reduced to 80% of what they would be entitled to otherwise.

The more conventional form of contributory negligence is different from the concept of pure comparative negligence. According to the latter, if the injured party were decide to be even 1% at fault for the accident by the court, it would render them ineligible for any damages whatsoever. Therefore the claimant would have to prove beyond a doubt that the defender was wholly responsible for the accident, if he wished to win damages.

If you’ve been in an accident recently, regardless of whether it resulted from medical malpractice, a

form of contributory negligence

how to accuse of Comparative negligence

workplace accident, or even a slip and fall, you probably have sufficient cause for a personal injury claim. If you’d like your case be heard and wish for a chance to have questions you might have about liability answered, then the best thing to do would be to consult a personal injury lawyer, preferably one who is part of a law firm. You could even solicit the services of a private lawyer who has his own practice.

A lawyer is bound to be highly and extensively experienced in the matter, and hiring one will ensure that you’re not without assistance at any point along the way. They would be well aware of the stakes while making a personal injury claim, and all their efforts would be directed towards obtaining a verdict that would best serve your interests. Don’t hold anything back while discussing the case with them, as any small point could be of consequence.

Before you decide on which lawyer you would have represent you, make sure that you finalize issues regarding the lawyer’s fee. The more experienced ones would be demanding a higher figure. Moreover, you can either pay them upfront or they may seek a certain percentage of the damages received.

 

 

How Comparative Negligence Can Be Calculated

contributory negligence states

how to determine comparative negligence

The concept of comparative negligence deals with the guilt that can be rightfully assigned to a person in the event of an accident. When you’re looking at drunk driving, the responsibility of the driver for the accident is absolute, both in the eyes of the law and the insurance companies. Even then, many times, no single party can be faulted for the accident. It is in cases like these that comparative negligence has to be calculated, so that the percentage of blame to be assigned to each party can be decided.

How comparative negligence is different from contributory negligence

The statute governing contributory negligence states that if a person is proven guilty of negligence that contributed to the accident that caused his or her injury, he or she has shown “contributory negligence”.

The statute for pure contributory negligence states that if the person is proven guilty of even the slightest contributory negligence, he cannot sue for damages. Comparative negligence, also called non-absolute contributory negligence outside of the United States, is what brings down the damages that the plaintiff can recover.

finding comparative negligence

how to find the comparative negligence

  • Conduct an investigation into the accident. If you didn’t witness the accident, get in touch with someone who did. Make an observation of where the accident took place. Write down the situation and circumstances of the parties that were involved in the accident. For instance, if you’re looking into an accident which involves an area under construction, then you might want to take a look at the safety measures in place, the work history of the worker, the dangers that a worker faces, and the aspects that the management might have overlooked.
  • Get reports from the police, the hospital, and eyewitnesses. These are what will give the information used by the courts and the insurance companies, to arrive at the percentage of comparative negligence.  It’s important to get your facts straight, on where, when and how things happened as they did.
  • Get in touch with insurance companies and get a hold of their official report on the incident. Their reports could differ from other reports and can be used to strengthen or weaken arguments. Moreover, the calculation for the comparative negligence will be included in the report.

These are the ways to go about calculating comparative negligence. Hope this information was relevant.

The writ of Habeas Corpus

writ of habeas corpus definition

The basics of Habeas Corpus

Habeas Corpus is a writ or procedure that protects a person from detention by other person or other authorities by being ordered to appear in court to argue their case against such a detention. The detention, if not having any legal basis will be annulled by the court which should be respected by the detaining person. The phrase ‘Habeas Corpus’ is derived from the Latin language which means ‘You have the body”.

This is the general summary of the writ of Habeas Corpus definition. The law includes various guidelines and protocols which have been detailed through successive judgments. These should be strictly followed; only when the petition has valid arguments will the defendant be allowed free and only with cause will the court allow the detention to be extended. The defendant may seek the help of an attorney to file the petition. The writ is a fundamental right of freedom for the defendant to act against the arbitrary and lawless state action.

Importance

detention

Writ of Habeas Corpus definition

The writ is the part of a person’s fundamental right against unjust actions taken against him by the state or any other person. The law originated during the 1400’s in the English common law. The law preserves the right of convicted persons to act against any forced detentions that are influenced using the powers of the Government and Politics.

The petitioners are not allowed freedom with the help of the writ unless they can establish that the detention happened following errors from the judiciary or the government authorities. This law is sometimes misused by convicted criminals to bail out after successfully establishing a false view of the case with the help of a lawyer.

Habeas Corpus in US

The writ of Habeas Corpus has been allowed to all prisoners under the Federal government. All jurisdictions under the Federal government are required to strictly allow defendants to file the writ under almost all conditions. The writ is suspended in a few cases including the ones that affect the security of the nation or political imbalances.

The Federal court has no supervisory authority over the criminal proceedings in State courts. The State courts have the power to reject the intervention of Federal Courts in a writ. There have been a number of cases in the U.S in recent years where the Habeas Corpus writ was passed and the petitioner was granted freedom from detention.

The Habeas corpus is a constitutional right and is one of the most fundamental laws that protect the rights of a citizen. More articles on the writ of Habeas Corpus definition will be posted later. Keep reading!