Under California law, if you have suffered a brain injury due to someone else’s negligent, reckless, or intentional actions, you have the right to hold them liable for your injury and other losses. However, proving another party is liable for your brain injury can be complex, especially if multiple parties are involved. It will require establishing the following four elements:
Duty of Care
The defendant (at-fault party) owed you a duty of care. One’s “duty of care” is to act as a reasonable person would in similar circumstances—for example, a driver has a duty to follow traffic laws to keep others on the road safe, and a property owner has a duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for visitors.
Breach of Duty
The defendant’s actions violated their duty of care—for example, a driver running a red light or a property owner failing to fix a known hazard.
Causation
The defendant’s breach directly caused your brain injury—for example, a driver who ran a red light crashed into your vehicle, causing you to hit your head on the steering wheel, which resulted in your brain injury, or you fell and hit your head because a property owner failed to repair steps they knew were damaged.
Damages
As a result of the defendant’s negligence, you suffered damages (e.g., medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.)The success of your case will often hinge on the strength of evidence against the defendant. An attorney can help you gather the types of evidence you will need, depending on the type of accident that caused your brain injury. Examples of evidence can be photos and video footage of the accident scene, eyewitness statements, video surveillance footage, police reports, medical records, maintenance logs, accident reconstruction expert testimony, brain injury expert testimony, etc.