Nobody is perfect. You could forget to send an important email at the end of a workday, feed your fish one afternoon, or put your trash at the end of your driveway on pickup day. Failing to do those things could be described as negligence, but no human being suffered injuries as a result.
The stakes become much higher when someone does suffer injuries or losses due to your negligence. Neglecting to pay attention while you’re driving in the city could lead to your striking a pedestrian and causing them serious physical injury. You might be forced to become acquainted with Arizona negligence laws if your negligence causes injuries or property damage to another person.
There’s a lot more to negligence as a legal concept, though—especially relating to how much you might be on the hook for after an accident. We’ll cover a few things you should know about legal negligence in Arizona personal injury cases.
A combination of statutes and case law has come to loosely define negligence in Arizona legal cases. If someone is negligent, they have failed to act within a reasonable manner or with the same care a reasonable person would have in the same circumstance. In the context of personal injury cases, negligence causes a victim to suffer death, injuries, or property damage.
Negligence can lead to a tort claim. A tort is a civil wrong that causes harm to someone, and negligence is a type of tort. Torts can also arise from intentional acts (battery, for instance) or strict liability (instances when an entity is liable for wrongdoing even if they were not necessarily negligent).
Negligence can lead to a wide range of physical and mental injuries. Due to the immense weight of cars, even minor accidents can cause bruises or abrasions. Catastrophic auto accidents are more likely to occur when a large truck or commercial vehicle collides with another vehicle at a high rate of speed.
While car accidents are perhaps the most common type of personal injury case, premises liability is also fairly common. Premises liability cases arise when someone fails to maintain their property and, as a result, another person suffers injuries.
The exact duty of care property owners owe other people depends on a few case-specific factors, but the potential injuries are similar to ones you could suffer in a car accident:
Those injuries almost always lead to financial losses for the victim. Some types of personal injury cases, such as defamation of character, usually result in only financial losses (and not physical injury). Examples of financial losses due to someone else’s negligence include:
In most cases, the statute of limitations for Arizona negligence claims involving injury, death, or property damage is two years. A statute of limitations is the period following an accident or incident in which plaintiffs (victims) can file a personal injury lawsuit. These periods exist to help both sides get fair legal processes and achieve certainty about a tort.
The two-year statute of limitations for personal injury cases means you have two years from the date of the accident to start legal proceedings. If your injuries didn’t start showing symptoms until days or weeks after the accident, the statute of limitations may be delayed (“tolled”) until the date you found out (or should have found out) about your injury.
Statutes of limitations affected by these delayed symptoms fall under the Arizona discovery rule. The discovery rule can sometimes rear its head in medical malpractice cases.
You should not assume that you have plenty of time after an accident to file a lawsuit. The decision to take a case to court can’t usually be made in one day—your attorney needs to take a good look at your circumstances and advise you on the best path forward. Plenty of preparation is the key to a successful claim or lawsuit.
Each successful Arizona personal injury lawsuit involving negligence has four discrete elements:
Although your negligence personal injury case may not go all the way to court, it’s often essential to show the defendant’s insurance company that those four elements exist to effect a reasonable payout.
The importance of evidence proving all four elements in a negligence case in Arizona cannot be overstated. The more evidence you have for your injuries and the defendant’s role in causing those injuries, the more likely the insurance company will be to give you the compensation you deserve.
Evidence that can bolster your side in a negligence case may include:
Getting the compensation you deserve after a personal injury case shouldn’t be as complicated as it is, but we have to operate within the system we’re given.
Going to court and succeeding is nearly impossible without the help of skilled legal counsel. Countless legal formalities apply to almost any type of civil case—you might be surprised at how much paperwork is involved in lawsuits, and every piece requires things to be presented a certain way. Attorneys with experience in cases similar to yours understand what courts and judges want to see at every juncture of the proceedings.
Outside of court, a personal injury lawyer can help you identify and gather the evidence needed for success. Lawyers can spot potential holes in your current case and do everything possible to bolster your side before going to court.
Like many states, Arizona uses a pure comparative negligence system to dole out fault and damages after a personal injury case. Comparative negligence allows plaintiffs to sue for damages if they were partially responsible for the incident that caused their injuries. A pure comparative negligence system allows plaintiffs to sue even if they were 99 percent at fault.
States with modified comparative negligence bar plaintiffs from receiving any damages if they bore 50 percent fault or more for an accident. It might not ultimately benefit you to file a lawsuit if you were mainly at fault for an accident, but you have that option under Arizona’s system. Your attorney can examine your circumstances and advise you on the most advantageous path forward.
Most personal injury cases involving negligence do not reach the verdict stage of a civil case. The exact percentage of cases that settle is unknown, but it may be more than 90 percent in Arizona. A judge or jury will make a fault determination if your case goes the distance.
The defendant’s insurance company will likely make an offer after it conducts its post-accident investigation. The amount may or may not be fair. If the insurance company is not offering what you deserve, an attorney can help you file a lawsuit.
While comparative negligence is the preferred system for plaintiffs who were partially at fault for an accident, it does reduce the compensation they recover. The amount that gets reduced is proportional to the plaintiff’s percentage of fault.
But to clarify, comparative negligence is preferred because the plaintiffs who were partially at fault get something instead of nothing. Under the Pure Contributory Negligence Rule, a plaintiff who is even 1% at fault gets nothing.
To illustrate the concept of comparative negligence, let’s consider a garden-variety traffic accident involving two cars. One car, driven by Driver A, does not stop at a stop sign at a two-way stop and collides with Driver B’s car. Driver A bears most of the liability for not obeying the stop sign. Driver B suffers damages worth $100,000.
However, Driver B is determined to be 20 percent at fault because they were going 30 mph in a 20-mph zone. As a result, Driver B gets $80,000 instead of the full $100,000.
Let’s add a third car into the mix. Let’s say a third driver, Driver C, is tailgating Driver B and collides with them. Driver B suffers $150,000 worth of damages. Driver A is determined to be 80 percent at fault for Driver B’s damages, and Driver C bears the remaining 20 percent.
Under Arizona law, Driver B would have to file separate claims or lawsuits against both drivers to recover the full $150,000. Driver A would be liable for $120,000, and Driver C would be liable for $30,000.
The most valuable asset you can have if you are making a claim or filing a lawsuit is an experienced negligence attorney. Insurance companies don’t always operate in good faith, and they can sometimes resort to intimidating tactics to get their way. Thompson Law knows every trick up these companies’ sleeves, and we’re prepared to take the fight to them.
Our attorneys take their work seriously—we’ve recovered more than $1.9 billion for our clients thus far, and we aren’t slowing down. You don’t pay us anything unless we recover compensation for your injuries. Get in touch with us to start your free initial consultation.
Thompson Law charges NO FEES unless we obtain a settlement for your case. We have put over $1.9 billion in cash settlements into our clients’ pockets.
Contact us today for a free, no obligation consultation to discuss your accident, get answers to your questions, and understand your legal options. State law limits the time you have to file a claim after an injury accident, so call today.
