Hasner Law | | March 24, 2023
Res ipsa loquitur is a legal concept that lawyers use to justify proving a defendant’s negligence through the use of circumstantial evidence alone. This concept exists because it is not always possible to provide direct proof of a defendant’s liability, even when it is obvious that a particular accident could not have happened without negligence.
Res Ipsa Loquitur as a Rule of Evidence
You can interpret res ipsa loquitur in this way by noting that certain types of circumstantial evidence can constitute prima facie evidence of liability even in the absence of direct proof.
“Prima facie evidence” evidence means enough to win your claim unless the other side counters with persuasive evidence to the contrary. Once you have that much evidence, you don’t have to submit any more evidence to win unless your opponent submits more.
What It Normally Takes To Prove Negligence
In most negligence cases (that do not rely on res ipsa loquitur), you must prove four facts to qualify for compensation:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care;
- The defendant breached their duty of care;
- You suffered a personal injury; and
- The defendant’s breach of duty is what caused your injury.
You might prove, for example, that the defendant left a pair of roller skates in a stairwell while you were visiting. If you fell down the stairs and broke your hip after you slipped on the skates, you might have a fairly convincing case of liability based on negligence.
The Burden of Proof
If you are demanding monetary damages from the defendant, you must prove that the defendant is liable. In a personal injury lawsuit, this burden is called “a preponderance of the evidence,” and it is not very onerous. All you need to do is to prove to the court that your version of events is more likely than not to be true. Even slightly more likely than not is enough, which is why some people refer to it as the “51% standard.”
What It Takes To Prove a Res Ipsa Loquitur Claim
Suppose, instead of falling down a flight of stairs, you were hit in the head by a hammer falling from the sky as you walked past an under-construction skyscraper. If all you know is that you got hit in the head by a flying hammer, you might consider using res ipsa loquitur to prove your claim. The facts you need to prove a res ipsa loquitur are:
- The accident almost certainly could not happen unless somebody was careless. This one is easy to prove since hammers cannot fly.
- The defendant owed you a duty of care, and they controlled the circumstances that caused your injury. Agents who perform construction work owe a duty of care to the public. This duty includes preventing hammers from falling from buildings.
- Circumstances exonerate all parties except the defendant. If the defendant was performing construction on the building, if the hammer belonged to the defendant, and if nobody else was working with hammers nearby, the evidence tends to point to the defendant by a process of elimination.
Please note that a company is responsible for its employee’s negligent acts. The company can bear liability for the negligence of its employees under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior.
Examples of Possible Res Ipsa Loquitur Claims
Following are a few more examples of common scenarios that might call for a res ipsa loquitur legal strategy:
- Wrong site surgery: A surgery removes the wrong kidney from a patient, for example.
- Mistaken identity: A doctor operates on the wrong patient.
- Leaving a foreign object (such as a scalpel) inside the patient’s body after surgery.
- A cigarette lighter explodes, scarring the user’s face.
- Automobile airbags fail to deploy during an auto accident.
In all of the foregoing cases, directly proving negligence would be difficult or even impossible.
Possible Defenses to a Res Ipsa Loquitur Claim
The defendant might other the following defenses:
- The accident would have occurred anyway (in other words, negligence, even if present, did not cause the accident).
- The injured victim caused the accident due to their own misconduct. Blame-shifting can be a partial defense or a complete defense against liability.
- The statute of limitations deadline has already passed. In Georgia, you generally have until two years after an accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If the victim dies, you have until two years after the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Many other defenses might apply, depending on the circumstances of your injury.
A Seasoned Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Prepare and Present Your Res Ipsa Loquitur Claim
It can be difficult to recognize when it is appropriate to invoke res ipsa loquitur. Ultimately, res ipsa loquitur claims require the exercise of mature legal judgment. It can be even trickier to prove liability to the satisfaction of a trial court or an insurance company. A skilled Atlanta personal injury lawyer is a near-necessity under such circumstances.
Contact our law firm Hasner Law, PC today to schedule your free consultation. You can give us a call at (678) 888-4878, we’re here 24/7
Hasner Law | Personal Injury | August 17, 2020
An accident or act of negligence can result in harm to another person. Under Georgia’s personal injury laws, you can seek compensation for injuries and damages caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing. However, you must prove the elements of negligence before you can recover compensation for your personal injury claim.
Legal Elements of a Negligence Claim
Most injury cases involve the theory of negligence. Examples of personal injury claims revolving around claims of negligence include motor vehicle accidents, slip & fall claims, dog bite claims, and pedestrian accidents.
Legal elements of a negligence claim are:
- The person owed a duty of care to the victim.
- The person breached the duty of care.
- The breach of the duty of care created a harmful situation for the victim.
- The harmful situation was a direct and proximate cause of the victim’s injury.
- The victim sustained damages because of the breach of duty.
There must be evidence to prove each element of negligence for the victim to recover compensation. For instance, a motorcycle and a truck crash into each other. The rider sustains traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries.
For the rider to recover compensation, there must be evidence that the truck driver’s actions directly led to the cause of the accident. There must also be evidence that the accident was a direct and proximate cause of the rider’s injuries and damages. If you cannot prove any of the elements required for a negligence claim, the motorcyclist cannot recover compensation from the truck driver.
In many personal injury cases, there is direct evidence that supports a claim of negligence. However, what happens when there is no direct evidence to prove that the at-fault party was negligent? Is there any legal avenue the victim can pursue to recover compensation?
Basing the Injury Case on Circumstantial Evidence
In some cases, a victim may rely on the legal theory of res ipsa loquitur. The term is Latin. It means “the thing speaks for itself.”
In a court case, res ipsa loquitur allows a victim to prove a defendant’s liability for damages by establishing a presumption of negligence instead of proving actual negligence. In other words, instead of using direct evidence, the victim uses circumstantial evidence to prove fault.
Direct evidence would include things such as video of a bicycle accident, photographs of broken steps, and eyewitness testimony that a driver rear-ended another vehicle. Direct evidence is used to prove a fact about the case.
On the other hand, circumstantial evidence does not establish a fact. It leads a person to infer that a fact exists. For example, a vehicle rear-ends another vehicle at a red light.
The only direct evidence is the conflicting stories of the two drivers. However, data from the red light indicates that it was red at the time of the crash. A jury may infer that the driver in the front stopped for the red light.
Since the accident was a rear-end crash, the jury may infer from the circumstantial evidence that the driver in the rear vehicle was at fault for the crash. The circumstantial evidence pointed to a logical conclusion based on the other circumstances and facts of the case.
Using Res Ipsa Loquitur in a Personal Injury Case
Before you can use res ipsa loquitur to ask a jury to infer that a defendant acted negligently, you must meet certain requirements:
- You must show that the incident would not usually occur without someone acting negligently.
- The negligent acts are within the scope of the duty of care that the defendant owed to the victim.
- Any items or circumstances involved in the incident were solely within the defendant’s control.
- The evidence in the case rules out the possibility that another party caused the victim’s injuries.
- The evidence in the case rules out the possibility that the victim caused his or her injuries.
If a party is successful in using circumstantial evidence under res ipsa loquitur to infer negligence, the victim should recover compensation for damages. Deciding damages and placing a value on the damages do not change.
Determining Damages in a Circumstantial Injury Case
Once negligence is inferred and the jury finds that the defendant is responsible for causing the victim’s injury, determining damages should follow the same process as in a direct evidence injury case.
The victim should be entitled to receive compensation for economic damages, such as medical bills, loss of income, personal care, and diminished earning capacity. Also, the victim should receive compensation for non-economic damages, including physical pain, emotional suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disabilities, and mental anguish.
Do not forget. You need evidence to prove the incident caused your injuries. You also need evidence establishing your damages to recover compensation for a personal injury claim.
Contact the Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers at Hasner Law PC For Help
For more information, please contact the Atlanta personal injury law firm of Hasner Law P.C. at our nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.
We serve in Fulton County, Chatham County, and its surrounding areas:
Hasner Law PC – Atlanta Law Office
2839 Paces Ferry Rd SE #1050
Atlanta, GA 30339
(678) 888-4878
Hasner Law PC – Savannah Law Office
221 W York St
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 234-2334