Let’s say you injured your back in a slip-and-fall accident in the grocery store because you stepped in a spill in the produce section while you were distracted on the phone. Is the grocery store liable for your injuries, or is the accident your fault, because you failed to take proper precautions?
Let’s say you injured your back in a slip-and-fall accident in the grocery store because you stepped in a spill in the produce section while you were distracted on the phone. Is the grocery store liable for your injuries, or is the accident your fault, because you failed to take proper precautions? Or perhaps you were speeding, and you got into an accident with a driver who was under the influence of alcohol. Who is at fault in that scenario? These examples show how complex navigating personal injury cases can be! While there are many questions we can’t answer in a blog post, we want to share some of the basics of Georgia liability laws with you.
The Georgia law and court system works off what are known as “modified comparative negligence” laws. What this means is that the burden of negligence and liability can be split between the parties involved. In contrast to states where settlements are awarded in an all-or-nothing way, Georgia allows for settlements to be modified to reflect how each party contributed to the incident. To use the example above, if your speeding was deemed to be 35% responsible for the traffic accident, then you would receive 65% of the total settlement costs.
As you can imagine, determining appropriate settlements is an intricate process, and we highly recommend you seek legal counsel before filing a claim. There are also various types of negligence or personal injury cases including automobile accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, and product liability. (We discussed some of this in a previous blog post.) Each of these areas of practice have different statutes, and it’s important for you to work with an attorney who is well-versed in the specific area that you need. We welcome your questions and invite you to reach out to Castan & Lecca today!
Or perhaps you were speeding, and you got into an accident with a driver who was under the influence of alcohol. Who is at fault in that scenario? These examples show how complex navigating personal injury cases can be! While there are many questions we can’t answer in a blog post, we want to share some of the basics of Georgia liability laws with you.
The Georgia law and court system works off what are known as “modified comparative negligence” laws. What this means is that the burden of negligence and liability can be split between the parties involved. In contrast to states where settlements are awarded in an all-or-nothing way, Georgia allows for settlements to be modified to reflect how each party contributed to the incident. To use the example above, if your speeding was deemed to be 35% responsible for the traffic accident, then you would receive 65% of the total settlement costs.
As you can imagine, determining appropriate settlements is an intricate process, and we highly recommend you seek legal counsel before filing a claim. There are also various types of negligence or personal injury cases including automobile accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, and product liability. (We discussed some of this in a previous blog post.) Each of these areas of practice have different statutes, and it’s important for you to work with an attorney who is well-versed in the specific area that you need. We welcome your questions and invite you to reach out to Castan & Lecca today!
