A superseding cause will completely change how the value of the claim is arrived at, and it is therefore important to understand these legal theories concerning personal injury cases.
Most of the time, the victim receives a call from an experienced insurance adjuster immediately after an accident. During this call, the adjuster will try to learn more about the accident and the injuries the victim has sustained.
Such experts will help analyze the situation and point out who is to blame. However, the problem is that these insurance adjusters will not be fair. Therefore, it is best to hire a personal injury attorney and let them deal with these adjusters.
To limit the issues that usually arise in these complexities within a personal injury case, one must truly understand what the superseding causes are and how they can affect the case.
Understanding the Superseding Cause
In personal injury law, a superseding cause is an intervening event that ends the chain of causation between the defendant’s action and the plaintiff’s injuries. It is an independent and unpredictable cause that suddenly imposes and interrupts the natural sequence that would have led to detrimental consequences. Determining liability in a personal injury case will be answered by examining whether or not a superseding cause substantially affected the plaintiff’s harm.
Key Factors to Consider
The superseding cause can affect your personal injury case. Considering the following, it can help:
- Foreseeability: A key question in determining whether intervening events are superseding causes is foreseeability. An intervening event becomes an intervening superseding cause if it is not reasonably foreseeable to the level above.
- Nature of the Intervening Act: The nature and extent of the intervening act are of prime importance in ascertaining its effect on liability. The more unusual or unforeseeable the intervening act, the more likely it will be termed a superseding cause.
- Causation: It is one of the main governing concepts in personal injury law; it pinpoints whether the defendant’s actions led directly to the plaintiff’s injuries. If the superseding cause is the dominating factor that led the plaintiff to harm, it could absolve the defendant from liability.
Examples of Superseding Causes
To illustrate how superseding causes can affect personal injury cases, consider the following scenarios:
- Medical Malpractice: In medical malpractice, it can be shown that an unforeseen allergic complication to a drug may be considered superseding. This fact takes the liability away from the health provider.
- Superseding torts: Where a third party intentionally injures the plaintiff soon after another first accident, for example, assaults him or her while insensible, then the intentional act shall be taken to be a superseding cause that discharges the original defendant from liability.
Many victims usually seek the help of experienced personal injury attorneys to avoid the hassles involved in accidents.
These attorneys will, in turn, help in standing up to aid in appropriately judging the terms of the accident and determining the fault. All experts in personal injury claim law claim that a superseding cause helps a plaintiff properly present and attain maximum compensation.
Conclusion
The concept of a superseding cause emerges in efficiently navigating cases related to personal injury. As personal injury lawyers put it, identifying and addressing potential superseding causes will affect your case more than you can imagine.
Working with experienced legal professionals is the surest way for your rights to be protected and for you to get due and fair compensation for the injuries you sustained.
If you ever get hurt in an accident, seek the services of the most reliable personal injury attorneys. They offer the highest rates of winning and the best chances of representation in court.
