What Does the Term 'Liability' Mean?

So, you are knee-deep in wrapping your head around the whirlwind, which is a personal injury claim. It can feel like you're learning a whole new language. One of the terms that may keep popping up in your journey to compensation is “liable and liability." 

Understanding this concept is crucial because it directly impacts who needs to pay compensation for injuries and losses. With so many legal nuances, knowing what "liable/liability" entails can seriously challenge you as you navigate your claim process. 

Let's dive into the nitty-gritty and understand what this means for you in New Jersey.

Legal liability in civil lawsuits

Legal liability is at the heart of all civil lawsuits, determining who's financially responsible (liable) for damages resulting from wrongdoing. Different scenarios fall under this umbrella, and lawyers and judges meticulously examine them to pinpoint blame.

Negligence

Negligence is a common protagonist in personal injury cases. Negligence occurs when someone fails to uphold a reasonable standard of care under the circumstances, causing harm or injury to another person. For example, someone texts while driving and causes an accident because they are not watching the road.

Strict Liability

Next is strict liability, which keeps manufacturers on their toes. It addresses cases where something slips up in their product-making process, resulting in a faulty item that injures you despite your use of it precisely as intended.

Intentional Tort

And then there are intentional torts, which sound just as dramatic as they are. Intentional torts apply when someone deliberately sets out to hurt someone else. In most cases, intentional tort lawsuits are accompanied by criminal proceedings.

Proving Liability: Navigating the Maze

Each type of case—negligence, strict liability, and intentional tort—has its own set of rules. For negligence-based cases, you've got to show four main things: There was a duty of care expected in the situation; that duty was breached through some action or lack thereof; this breach directly caused harm; and actual damage resulted from this harm. 

Intentional Tort is clearer because you need to prove that someone intentionally acted to cause harm. It’s less about accidents here and more about purposeful behavior causing injury.

In strict liability cases, the defendant's intended harm does not matter—you just need to show that their product was defective and caused injury while being used as intended.

Sharing the Blame: When Liability Spreads

Liability can definitely be a shared affair. In many personal injury cases, especially complex ones involving multiple parties or factors, more than one person or entity might be responsible for damages.

Imagine this: you're in a multi-car pile-up on the highway. The accident began with a truck swerving unpredictably but was exacerbated by another driver who was tailgating and could not stop in time. Here, both drivers might share liability for the resulting mishap.

Both Sides Are at Fault: New Jersey’s Take

Sometimes, even the person who gets hurt might be responsible for their misfortune. New Jersey uses "comparative negligence" to tackle this tricky situation. It's like dividing a pie based on who caused the accident. 

“Liability is not always clear-cut. Comparative negligence means everyone pays for their part in an accident with the aim of distributing financial responsibility fairly based on each party's contribution to the incident,” says New Jersey personal injury lawyer Andrew Statmore. 

Suppose you speed slightly over the limit when another driver runs a red light and hits your car. Under New Jersey law, if you're found 30% responsible because you were speeding, your compensation could be reduced by that percentage.