If you were injured, you might be thinking about seeking out an accident lawyer and suing for damages to pay for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, you should know that just because you were injured outside of your home and property doesn't mean that someone else is automatically liable for your injuries. You should understand liability, know when you are held liable, and know if you can still seek damages if you had some sort of liability for your accident.

What is Liability?

Liability is the law term that encompasses the notion of legal responsibility, or who was at fault for the accident. Usually this involves proving that the other party acted in a negligent or careless manner. However, just because you were the injured party doesn't mean that you can't be held liable for the accident that caused your injuries, even if there were other parties involved.

When Would You Be Held Liable?

There are many different instances where the liability will fall on you rather than another party. If you were injured in a place where you were not supposed to be, then you will probably be held liable. This is due to the fact that if you were injured on property where you were not supposed to be, the property owner had no legal duty to keep their property free of things that might cause injury. In the same vein, if you were injured in a place where you could reasonably expect the accident to have happened, you will probably be held liable. If you acted in a careless manner that resulted in injury, this could cause you to be held partially liable.

Can You Still Sue If You Are Partially Liable?

If you were partially liable, for example if your carelessness caused your injury, you can still make a partial claim to get compensated for your injuries. When this happens, the court will decide how careless you were, as well as how careless the other party was, and then compensate you based on your percentage of fault in the accident. This is called comparative carelessness, and it will be determined by insurance companies or the court.

If you think that you don't hold liability for your injuries, talk to a personal injury lawyer like Richard M Altman to make sure. He or she will be able to help you decide if your best course of action is to sue and seek damages for your injuries.