Illinois Negligence Laws
Negligence Laws in Illinois
To begin, let us illustrate some scenarios for you. Say you were at work, and you slip and fell due to a wet spot. The wet spot was supposed to be marked to allow the workers the opportunity to acknowledge the hazard. You fall and get hurt. Or say you were driving and someone rear ends you that is on their phone. No matter what the case is if you were injured due to someone else, you may have a negligence claim.
Negligence Case Elements
A negligence case pops up when one individual fails to provide an expected duty, they are responsible for. If the individual responsible for that duty, fails to uphold it, they may be guilty of negligence. If you are the victim to these failed duties, you may be entitled to compensation. Illinois laws are unique in that they also include something know as contributory negligence. In short, contributory negligence refers to the victim or the plaintiff in the case also being responsible for the injuries the sustained.
Winning Your Negligence Case
In order for a person to win their negligence case a few things must be proven. Failure to prove any of the elements could very well lead to a failed claim. Therefore, if you believe you are a victim to someone’s negligence, you must be able to prove all of the following.
- Duty: Defendant owed to a duty of care.
- Breach of Duty: Defendant failed to meet their duty.
- Cause in Fact: If not for this failure, you would not have been injured.
- Proximate Cause: This failure undoubtedly caused your injury.
- Damages: You have actually been injured and suffered some loss.
