In a personal injury case, you’re bringing a claim to seek compensation for the losses and damages you’ve sustained because of someone else’s negligence. However, the state of Utah recognizes that not all accidents are solely the fault of just one person. Sometimes there are several people who contribute to the accident, albeit to different degrees. If you are partially at fault, the law still allows you to bring a claim in numerous instances, and a Salt Lake City, UT personal injury attorney can help you understand if you’re eligible to bring a claim and fight for the maximum amount of compensation.
Can I File a Claim in Salt Lake City, UT If I Was Partially at Fault?
The short answer here is, yes, you can file a claim so long as you were not 50% or more at fault. If you were more than 50% at fault, you are barred from bringing any claim. And if you are exactly 50% at fault, and so is the other person, then as far as Utah is concerned, it basically all comes out in the wash since you are equally to blame.
If you are less than 50% at fault, however, you will see your total compensation reduced by the same percentage as your fault. So, if you are 20% at fault, you would only get 80% of the total amount of compensation agreed to. As you can imagine, properly determining fault becomes essential in these claims. You don’t want to be given even a single percentage point of blame more than you should have. But you can also expect the other party, and particularly their insurance company, to be very interested in blaming you as much as possible. The more blame they can put on you, the less they have to pay.
How Can I Be Partially At Fault?
Imagine that you are coming through an intersection and someone else hits you because they made a left-hand turn improperly. But as you went through that intersection, you were speeding. In a situation like that, the courts may say that the first party was primarily at fault at 70%, but, because you were speeding, you are also to blame and therefore are given 30% of the fault. If your total damages were then $23,000, you would only receive 70% of that, which is $16,100. For the rest, you would be out of pocket.
Another example might be medical malpractice. Perhaps a doctor did not prescribe the best treatment for you under the circumstances: the treatment that a competent doctor under similar circumstances would have ordered. But imagine that the treatment they did order should have been at least partially effective, if you had followed it, but you refused to follow it. In this case you might be held partially to blame for having made your own condition worse by not doing what was prescribed.
How Your Personal Injury Attorney Will Help
Assessing Your Case
The first thing your attorney will do is look at the case and all the facts and details. From that, your lawyer will be able to tell you basically what to expect. They can give you a rough estimate of how much fault you’re likely to be assigned and whether and how to bring a claim.
Building Your Case
The next important thing your attorney will do is properly build your claim to minimize your fault and show what really happened. This involves presenting evidence clearly, and your lawyer will know what evidence is needed and help you gather it. You’ll need things like your medical records, any video evidence that might exist of the accident in question, photographs, the testimony of witnesses, and any police report or other official reports that may have been made of the incident.
Properly Calculating Your Damages
To get the most possible compensation, even after your percentage of fault is calculated, you need to calculate the correct and full total of your actual damages. This can be harder than it might seem, but a lawyer has done this many times and knows how to properly figure everything in. There are two types of damages you will likely be requesting, and a few very rare cases may also qualify for a third type called punitive damages. The two primary types of damages are economic and non-economic.
Economic
Economic damages are the ones for which you have receipts and bills and can be quantified easily with numbers. The most important of these is usually your medical bills, but it can also include property damage and all kinds of peripherals that your lawyer will know how to figure out.
For example, if you were in a car accident and your car was in the shop for weeks getting repairs, you should be reimbursed for any rental car or Uber rides that you had to get to go to doctors’ appointments or to take care of your children. Your economic damages also include any wages that you lost because you couldn’t go to work; but not just wages. If you lost out on bonuses, had to use up valuable personal days, or became ineligible for a promotion, all that needs to be figured properly.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are harder to quantify, and it’s important to have a lawyer help you figure these. These are often known as “pain-and-suffering,” and they include not just reimbursement for the pain you’ve undergone but also for the mental anguish you sustained. Also included here would be loss of enjoyment of life if there are things you can no longer do because of your injuries.
These are usually calculated with reference to your economic damages. You first calculate your economic damages and then multiply these by a number between one and five, depending on how extreme your injuries were. If you had fairly minor injuries that healed quickly, then you would usually multiply your economic damages by one or two. If you had extreme injuries, such as serious brain damage or paralysis, then you would multiply that number by four or five. Everything else falls in the middle.
Punitive Damages
As mentioned above, these are extremely rare. They are not meant to reimburse the victim for any losses but just to punish the liable party to send a clear message to both them and others. These are only awarded when someone’s behavior is egregiously reckless or when they deliberately try to harm someone. Your lawyer can tell you whether these are likely in your case and also give you other tips, such as figuring taxes when punitive damages are added. Because they are not reimbursing you for anything, punitive damages are taxed at a high rate.
Negotiating
The most important thing that your lawyer will do for you is to negotiate for you with the other party and their insurance company. As mentioned, the insurance company is likely to do everything possible to increase your liability so they don’t have to pay. Your lawyer will fight hard as an experienced negotiator who knows how to counter their tactics.
Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Whatever your situation, reach out to the experienced attorneys at RamRock Injury Law today for a free case evaluation. We proudly serve clients across Utah. Visit us at our Salt Lake City office:
RamRock Injury Law – Salt Lake City Office
5353 South 960 East Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
Phone: (866) 427-5167
