Before an insurance company, claims adjuster, attorney or jury will award any damages, an injured party is required to prove both liability and damages. Specifically, the burden of proof is on the injured party to show that a duty was owed to the injured party; that duty was breached; and, that as a result, of that breach, the party was injured. Once liability is established, it is the burden of the party to show the nature and extent of the injuries. This may be as simple as a driver disregarding a stop sign and striking another vehicle resulting in broken bones. In the alternative, it can be as complicated as a doctor placing a metal cage around an injured spinal column, in such a position that the cage impinges on the spinal cord.
When retaining legal counsel, it is important to understand how your attorney will prove liability and damages, including the resources available to the attorney: videotape settlement brochure; animation; doctor interviews; accident reconstruction; vocational, life care and other expert witnesses. It is also important to discuss other settlements and trial results which the attorney has been directly responsible. The fact is that most cases are resolved short of trial. However, if your case goes to trial, choose the attorney and law firm that is best suited for your needs and has the track records to prove it.
More than 10,000 fatalities, accounting for 6 percent of all deaths in Indiana, resulted from injury. Unintentional (accidental) fatalities comprised 65 percent of all injury-related deaths. Suicides accounted for 20 percent and assault an additional 12 percent. Intent for approximately 3 percent of all injury deaths was undetermined.
Unintentional injuries were the 5th leading cause of death for all ages and the leading cause for persons aged 1 to 34 years. The five leading causes of all unintentional injury deaths were motor vehicle traffic (41.5 percent), unspecified (12 percent), falls (12 percent), suffocation (8 percent), and poisonings (7 percent). Motor vehicle traffic incidents accounted for 27 percent of all injury-related fatalities.
Doehrman & Chamberlain
10333 North Meridian Street Suite 100
Indianapolis, Indiana 46290