A Practical Guide to Understanding Fault in Personal Injury Claims

In a personal injury case, fault simply means someone did something (or didn’t do something) that caused the accident. If a person was careless or acted in a way that a reasonable person wouldn’t, and that led to you getting hurt, then they’re at fault.

Legally, this is called negligence, and it’s the foundation of most personal injury claims. Proving negligence means showing that someone didn’t act responsibly, and that their actions (not yours) led to your injuries.

In a city like San Francisco, where high foot traffic, dense roadways, and a fast-paced lifestyle often contribute to accidents, proving fault becomes especially important. So when San Francisco injury lawyers at Jacoby & Meyers talk about proving fault while working with you, what they’re really doing is showing that someone else made a mistake or failed to act safely, and that mistake caused real damage to your body, your emotions, and your wallet.

What Needs to Be Proven to Establish Fault

To make a personal injury claim stick, you have to prove a few things.

The Other Person Had a Duty of Care

This just means they had a responsibility to act in a reasonably safe way. For example, every driver on the road has a duty to follow traffic laws and drive carefully. A property owner has a duty to keep their space safe for visitors.

They Breached That Duty

In simple terms, they didn’t do what they were supposed to. Maybe they were texting and driving, didn’t fix a broken stair, or let their dog run loose. That’s the breach; that’s the moment they stopped being responsible.

Their Actions Caused Your Injury

You have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their actions are what led to you getting hurt. If they were speeding but didn’t hit you, that’s not enough. But if their speeding caused them to crash into you, that’s causation.

You Suffered Real Damages

This could be physical injuries, emotional stress, medical bills, lost time at work, or basically anything that had a real impact on your life because of the accident.

Put all four of these together, and you’ve got a strong personal injury claim.

Proving Fault When You’re Also to Blame

When both parties share fault in various degrees, the law falls on the concept of comparative fault. This concept means that more than one person can be at fault for an accident, including you.

This is how it usually works: if a court decides you were 20% at fault for the accident and your total damages were $10,000, you’d still be able to recover money, but only 80% of that amount, so $8,000.

Now, some states take it a step further. In states with modified comparative fault rules, if you’re found to be more than 50% responsible, you may not be able to recover anything at all. So even if someone else clearly messed up, your own share of the blame could cancel out your right to compensation if it’s more than half.

The Essence of Fault and Liability in PI Cases

Fault is more than just a legal technicality. It holds ground as the key that unlocks whether or not you get compensation and how much of it you get. Your hospital bills, your time off work, and the pain you’re dealing with all depend on who’s found to be at fault.

And sometimes, it’s not clear-cut. Car accidents involving multiple vehicles, slip-and-fall incidents in public places, and injuries at construction sites can turn into blame games quickly.

Everyone’s pointing fingers, insurance companies are trying to pay as little as possible, and you’re left trying to make sense of it all while dealing with the pain.

When the case gets as murky as this, PI lawyers will employ every tool at their disposal to investigate, get the traffic camera footage, and talk to witnesses. They also bring in accident reconstruction experts.

They comb through reports to paint a clear picture of what happened and why the fault isn’t on you. You deserve to heal, and you deserve to do it with the support and justice you’re entitled to. A lawyer ensures just that.