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Legal Blog

What is Negligence?

In most personal injury cases you must show that the other party was negligent and caused your injuries. Negligence is defined as the failure to exercise the degree of care expected of someone in order to minimize the risk of harm to another person. This legal definition provides you with a complex structure that must be applied to the facts of your situation in order to recover for your losses.

If you’ve been injured, you may have to prove negligence to be able to recover compensation to pay for medical bills, lost wages, vehicle damage, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. The highly skilled Houston personal injury lawyers from The Krist Law Firm, P.C. know what it takes to prove acts of negligence and can help you obtain a full and fair settlement as a result.

Call us today at (281) 283-8500 to find out how we can help you.

How to Prove Negligence

There are four elements that Houston personal injury lawyers use to prove negligence. These elements include proving that there was a duty of care, the duty of care was breached, evident harm or damages were the result, and the negligent act caused the damages. In some cases, personal injury lawyers will investigate proximate cause which is considered the fifth element of negligence. Here are more details on each of these elements:

  • Duty of Care – The responsibility that people have to prevent foreseeable harm to others is referred to as duty of care. Courts will evaluate whether a reasonable individual could foresee that an action or inaction would lead to an injury.
  • Breach of Duty – If a person has a duty of care in a certain situation, a personal injury lawyer must demonstrate that the duty was not fulfilled by a defendant.
  • Damages or Evident Harm Arose – The personal injury attorney must prove that there were some types of damages or evident harm that arose. Damages in a personal injury case may include vehicle damage, medical bills, loss of employment, loss of wages, and emotional distress.
  • Damages Were Caused by Negligence – In addition to proving that damages or evident harm arose, the personal injury attorney will need to prove that the cause of the damages or evident harm was the defendant’s breach of duty.
  • Proximate Cause – Proximate cause is a cause that is legally sufficient to result in liability. It is useful when there is a debate regarding whether the defendant was negligent.

Injured Due to Negligence? Call The Krist Law Firm, P.C. Today

If you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligent act, consulting the Houston personal injury lawyers from the Krist Law Firm, P.C. can change your life. Since 1968, we’ve dedicated our firm to aggressively representing countless Houston area residents who have suffered from injuries because of the negligence of another party.

Whether you’ve been involved in a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, work-related accident, train accident, aviation accident, or product liability incident, we will fight tirelessly to prove the other party’s negligence and secure the compensation to which you may be entitled.

Call us at (281) 283-8500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free, no-obligation case consultation.