Make no mistake, personal injury cases are fights between
two sides trying to prove opposite conclusions. The system
is adversarial. Your attorneys are going to do their very
best to fight for you and prove you should recover for the
defendant’s negligence. The lawyers on the other side
are going to aggressively defend against your claim. The defenses
and strategies below may seem intimidating, but part of the
job your attorney takes on will be to deal with and defeat
the tactics and defenses raised by the defendant.
The defense attorneys will fight hard to defeat your claims
in a number of ways. The defense will normally look to present
evidence that:
- You were suffering from pre-existing injuries of the type
you now complain
- If the defendant was negligent and caused your injuries,
you are exaggerating your injuries and are not suffering
to the extent that you claim
- Your injuries were caused by something or someone other
than the defendant’s negligence
- You were partly responsible for the incident which caused
your injuries
- You made conflicting statements during the case about
how the accident happened or the extent of your injuries
and thus you cannot be trusted or believed
- You have a history of making false statements at other
times and thus you cannot be trusted or believed as a witness
- You have done things in your life that make you an unsympathetic
person (you have a criminal record or a history of acting
irresponsibly)
- The insurance companies will try to make the defendant
appear as human and sympathetic as possible and will try
to portray you as “playing” the system and seeking
a financial windfall
Georgia recognizes that the legal defenses of contributory
negligence and assumption of the risk apply in personal injury
cases. In terms of legal and factual defenses, defendants
often raise the following:
- Defendant was not negligent
- Pre-existing medical condition
- No Causation
- No vicarious liability of others’ acts
- Improper or inadequate expert opinions
- Contributory negligence or comparative negligence
- Assumption of the risk
- Statute of limitations expired
- Immunity statutes
- Release and satisfaction
- Independent intervening and superseding cause
Your attorney will do his or her best to anticipate which
defenses the responsible party will try to offer and develop
during the case. Your full and complete cooperation will be
necessary to help counsel prepare your case and position it
for the best possible outcome.
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