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Depending on the specific details and nature of your injury, you may have a number of options available to you regarding a civil lawsuit after an injury in Santa Barbara County. In order to win a suit, you typically need to prove that you were injured, that someone else acted in a negligent way, or failed to use due care, and that their negligence was a substantial cause of your injury. That means there may be liability on the part of whoever caused you to be injured as well as the owner of the property on which you were injured.
While popular culture publicizes frivolous lawsuits running rampant in America, in reality, there are very strict grounds in California for winning a civil case. Of course you can file a lawsuit against someone if you feel they were at fault, but in order for your case to proceed, you must meet specific criteria. That is why you need an experienced personal injury lawyer to look at your situation and help you understand your options.
In general, in order for you to have a chance of winning a civil claim after an injury you must prove three things. You first need to demonstrate that you were injured, which is usually reflected in your medical records. It is very important that you seek immediate professional treatment for a serious injury and get continuous treatment thereafter, which allows a doctor to provide expert evidence that your injury is real, the cause of your injury and the effect your injury has on your life.
Second, you must demonstrate that someone else acted negligently or failed to act reasonably. If you slip and fall while shopping on Black Friday, that does not necessarily mean you can win a civil lawsuit against the owner of a store. The owner would need to have been negligent. For example, if you slip on a freshly mopped area of vinyl flooring that is not marked as wet, then you may be able to demonstrate that the failure to notify shoppers of the slippery conditions was negligent.
Once you establish that you were injured and there was an act of negligence, then you must prove that the negligence substantially contributed to your injury. In the above example, if you slipped on a wet floor that was not properly marked after mopping, and the fall caused you to injure your hip or shoulder, then you have a strong civil claim. If another shopper pushed you and you slipped on the wet floor, then you may be able to file a lawsuit against that other person, depending on the situation, and the store owner who did not properly warn you about the slippery conditions.
The process of successfully filing and winning a civil claim in California can be quite complicated. You need an experienced Santa Barbara injury lawyer to represent you. If you or a loved one has been injured due to someone else’s negligence, call the Law Office of Renee J. Nordstrand today at (805) 962-2022 to discuss your case.