How Can You Lose? Know The Ways

It's all very well to go into your personal injury suit with a positive attitude, after all , you deserve to be compensated for your injuries and you remain confident that you will. Understanding what you might be fighting against is important, however, since it might give you a more realistic view of the trial. You can expect the other side to fight you with everything they can, and there are some commonly used defense tactics that you might want to know about ahead of time. Read on to learn about what to expect from the other side at your trial.

Are you really 100% free of fault?

You might be surprised at the number of accidents that involve the parties dividing fault among themselves. You cannot always lay 100% of the fault for a given incident at the feet of one person, one driver or one dangerous situation. You may be somewhat at fault, and there may even be third or fourth parties who played a part in the accident. You cannot expect to have one party pay for an accident that was not entirely their fault.

If the other party can prove that you had a part in what happened, it will lessen their liability, which is their share of blame. Anything less than 100% liability means that not only can your compensation be reduced, but the other party could be prompted to turn around and file suit against you! To prevent these unfortunate occurrences, be open and honest with your attorney about any part you may have played in the accident. For example:

1. If the day was wet and rainy and you ignored the wet floor signs and slipped down at the store entrance, you may have to share some of the blame with the store for failing to use "due care", which means that you did not employ the care that a reasonable person would given the circumstances.
2. If your brake lights where not working and the driver behind you rear-ended you, you share some of the blame for having malfunctioning safety equipment.

Signing Away Your Right to Sue

Often, you must sign a waiver when engaging in almost any activity; from joining a gym to renting a picnic pavilion at the park for a birthday party. These waivers are customary and they are an attempt to cover the owners from the actions of the users. They are not, however, meant to cover the owner's bad acts. In other words, if you did not follow the rules and ended up getting hurt, the waiver protects the owner from lawsuit. If the owner was negligent in some way, you still have a perfect right to be compensated. If you signed a waiver, you can expect that to be brought up in court.

Too Late to Sue?

You only have so long to file suit against those who wronged you, and going past that date will inevitably cause your case to thrown out of court. Be aware of the statute of limitations in your state. This seemingly minor issue, along with filing suit in the wrong state or wrong venue causes many cases to go back to square one surprisingly often.

Go to websites for local attorneys for more information.