Why do you need damages?

Many people comes to our firm and ask, can we sue the negligent party for what they wrongfully done to us. In many cases, the answer is yes but upon further analysis of the cases, it becomes clear that the damages are missing. In order to recover under the theory of negligence, the law is clear, the fact that you have to have damages is as important as the fact that some one was negligent.

When there are no damages, unfortunately for many individuals, that means that there is no case at all. We have found this result with many medical malpractice cases and premises liability cases. Not so much so on the area of auto accidents. The reason is clear, if there is a car collision, there are some damages, both to the property and the person.

As an attorney, one has to look at the case, specially for negligence cases as one that can potentially reward the risk that the lawyers takes on taking the case. Since these cases are often taken on a contingency basis, the lawyers needs to insure that all elements are present before taking the case.

In a nut shell, for negligence to be actionable, there has to be 1) duty, 2) a breach therefrom, 3) actual cause, 4) proximate cause, and 5) damages. Miss one element, you miss the case. Although many cases the damages be nominal, generally, the greater the damage, the greater the recovery.

So, next time you hear the hype from highly commercialized lawyers, don't think that they are better at recovery, they just take the cases with the greatest rate of return form them and make it appears as though every case is going to win big.

If you have suffered or been injured by some one, give us a call (210) 979-9777 we will evaluate your case free and we will treat you with respect and dignity because, we care about your legal needs.