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One of the most difficult concepts for folks injured in a personal injury cases, in grasping
the law, is the concept of fault versus damages or their injuries. Hi, I'm Guy DiMartino,
I�m an injury and accident lawyer. And today I'd like to spend a few moments and discuss
how this works in practice. So you have a better understanding; this is how the conversation
usually goes. The facts of the accident are really bad. The defendant was a jerk. The
defendant's behavior was horrible. They did something wrong. There's no doubt that they
did something wrong. They were speeding. They were reckless. They were on their cell phone.
They were texting. Whatever that might be. They really really did something. But fortunately,
for the client, the client did not get severe severe injuries. Their injuries were either
temporary or relatively minor, when you look at the injuries in regards to the defendant's
behavior. So fortunately for the client, the client gets better, and the insurance company
comes forward with their initial offer, and the client just goes ballistic. The injured
person just says I can't believe the defendant did ABC and D, acted like a jerk, drove a
100 miles an hour, was texting, was on their cell phone, and the insurance company only
offering me only $15,000 or $20,000 or whatever it is. And they get their feelings hurt and
they just go ballistic. And so this is what the client is actually doing. The injured
person is actually mixing up the two concepts of fault and damages. You see, In order to
be successful in a personal injury case, you have to show that the person was at fault,
and that you were injured, and that whatever the person did actually caused the injuries.
So the person's behavior and the fact that they were speeding, or texting, or on the
cell phone, or just being a downright jerk, all goes to the fault equation. It does not
go to the injury or damages equation. And if this matter were to proceed forward into
court, most of the time the defendant's insurance company, their lawyer, is going to come into
court and say we were at fault for the accident, and so the judge is not going to allow you
to get into all this egregiously bad behavior, and the only thing that the jury is going
to hear about may be slight facts of the accident, and your injuries or damages. So this is a
concept that really people need to understand, because liability or the facts of the accident
might spill over into the damages or injury section, and might sometimes drive value,
but they are really separate elements of a personal injury case. If you have any questions
about how this concept works, you can always give me a call directly on my cell phone at
352-267-9168. Thank you and have yourself a great day.