You might think that determining the cause of a car accident is easy, but the truth of the matter is that liability is fought over in many personal injury cases. You can’t let that take you by surprise, either, otherwise you could miss key legal arguments, thereby jeopardizing the viability of your claim. Therefore, as you prepare your car accident personal injury case, it’s imperative that you anticipate how the defense may attack your arguments as to the cause of the wreck in question. By doing so, you’ll hopefully be able to head-off the defense’s arguments and craft legal strategies that support your positioning.
To do that, though, you have to think through how liability and causation are typically attacked. Let’s take some time in the remainder of this post to look at some common ways in which these legal issues are scrutinized so that you have a better idea of what you might be up against.
How the defense might attack your liability and causation arguments in a personal injury case
Causation and liability can come under attack in multiple ways. In fact, you may find yourself fending off multiple defense arguments all targeted on the cause of the wreck and who is to blame. Here are some common ways that the defense tries to accomplish this:
- Presenting contradictory eyewitness testimony: You might think that the facts of your accident make causation clear, but the defense might bring a witness out of the woodwork who gives a different account of the events at hand. This could shake the foundation of your case and raise doubt in the jury’s mind as to your account of events. But you can minimize the defense’s effectiveness here if you can impeach the witness and otherwise draw the credibility and thus the reliability of their testimony into question.
- Eliciting contrary expert testimony: Testimony from your own expert can go a long way toward proving liability, causation and the extent of your damages. But you should expect the defense to present their own expert testimony. Knowing that the defense has their own expert or experts who will testify can be nerve-wracking, but simply because they’re labeled as a witness doesn’t mean that their testimony is reliable. Be sure to analyze these experts’ qualifications and the methodologies they deployed to reach their conclusions. You might find areas of attack there.
- Aggressive cross-examining: There’s a good chance that you’re going to need to testify in your case to lay the framework for your claim and to give your account of events that led up to your accident. When you do so, though, you’ll be subjected to aggressive cross-examination by the defense. If you’re inadequately prepared for these lines of questioning, then you could inadvertently say something that’s damaging to your case. This holds true for a pre-trial deposition, too, since this testimony can also be used against you. So, make sure you adequately anticipate the defense’s questioning and practice your responses.
Be as prepared as possible heading into your car accident personal injury case
There’s a lot that can go wrong in a personal injury case. Fortunately, you can mitigate or completely eliminate many of these risks through thorough preparation. But figuring out the best way to build your case can be tricky, especially if the facts surrounding your accident are complex or if you’re simply unfamiliar with the legal process. For this reason, it’s a good idea to take the time needed to seek answers to your questions and secure any support necessary to craft compelling legal arguments. Hopefully then you can rest assured that you’ve done everything possible to secure the outcome that you want.