Your Guide to Personal Injury Claims Involving Multiple Parties
In an ideal world, a personal injury claim is a straight line joining two points in space. One party at fault for another party’s injury. The two parties negotiate fair restitution for the injuries inflicted. A settlement is paid, and everyone can go on with their lives. But in many cases, a personal injury claim can be like a string of dominoes. A series of persons, objects, and extenuating factors act upon each other, inevitably resulting in the injury of some unlucky innocent. Today’s blog post from Malloy Law Offices will examine personal injury claims involving multiple parties
Dividing the Pie
Here is how personal injury claims involving multiple parties are supposed to be resolved. Let’s assume that you are the victim of a car accident in which three drivers all displayed negligent behavior. This negligence led to one of them colliding with your vehicle. These negligent behaviors could include:
- Disregard for traffic signals
- Traveling at speeds in excess of the posted limit
- Attempting to “beat” the traffic lights
Whatever the case, their negligence sent them careening into each other and then into you, which caused your injury.
Now, let’s assume further that you have retained the services of a personal injury attorney. After some accounting and estimating losses due to lost wages, medical bills, emotional trauma, and physical pain, your attorney has reached an exact figure which can be used to negotiate a settlement. Negotiations proceed smoothly and all negligent parties agree to pay. But they’re not all equally responsible for your injury. Therefore, each will pay a percentage of the total settlement owed according to the degree they are adjudged to be at fault for the injury. Keep in mind that this will only total the settlement amount agreed on by your legal representation and the responsible parties’ insurance companies.
The Blame Game
Now, as you may have noted already, a lot of cooperation is necessary to make the above scenario come to fruition. Given that the various parties involved have their own finances to protect, the culpable parties and insurance companies in question have incentive to minimize the severity of the injury in question as much as possible. This holds true in any personal injury case. But it can be especially difficult in cases involving multiple negligent parties. This sort of situation means more insurance companies to negotiate with, and it means the insurance companies representing each negligent party have incentive to shift the blame onto each other. This can make reaching a final settlement and the percentages each responsible party owes to the plaintiff much more difficult.
How Does This Interface with Contributory Negligence?
We’ve previously discussed contributory negligence on our blog. To recap: this legal statute may bar injured persons from recovery of damages if they are adjudged to be even slightly responsible for their own injury. This is in contrast to the more common doctrine of comparative negligence, in which culpability in one’s own injury merely reduces the amount of recovery possible. In contributory negligence states (such as Maryland and Virginia) even a 1% responsibility for your injury could leave you with no path to claim damages. As you might expect, this calculation of fault becomes even more complicated in a personal injury claim involving multiple parties.
How Malloy Law Can Help
If you or a loved one is seeking to file a personal injury claim where multiple parties bear responsibility for your injury, contact Malloy Law Offices today. Our experienced and diverse team of attorneys will evaluate your case free of charge and plot a course to maximum compensation. Don’t face a complex claim involving multiple negligent parties alone. Contact Malloy Law today for a free consultation.
