What are some of the liability issues?

First and foremost, we have to establish who was responsible for your accident — and this is not always a clear-cut issue. Every case has two parts that you have to establish to win. First, we have to establish that the other driver was responsible for the accident. Second, we have to establish that this accident was the cause of your injuries. Once those two factors are determined, we can then calculate damages.

In establishing liability, it’s important that you call the police, file a report, and gather as much information about the accident as possible. While a police report isn’t necessarily admissible at trial for purposes of settlement it’s a very helpful tool for the insurance adjuster and your attorney in determining how the accident happened and who was responsible. It’s also helpful if you take photos of all involved vehicles and their positioning. Even then, however, not every case is a slam dunk. There are times when it’s ultimately decided that one driver was 80 percent responsible and the other driver 20 percent responsible. In that case, your award would be offset by the appropriate percentage.