The plaintiff bears the burden of proof in a personal injury case, so in order to recover compensation on a plaintiff’s behalf, a local personal injury attorney in Atlanta must prove based on a preponderance of available evidence that the defendant’s actions were the direct cause of the accident in question. However, a defendant may argue that a plaintiff’s own carelessness contributed to the incident, meaning that they are partially at fault for their ensuing damages.
According to Official Code of Georgia §51-12-33, civil courts have the authority to evaluate the actions of both the plaintiff and the defendant and assign each party a percentage of fault for an accident. An injured plaintiff can still recover at least some compensation as long as they are less than 50 percent at fault, although their final damage award would be reduced proportionately by their percentage of fault. However, if a plaintiff is found to be more than 50 percent at fault for their accident, they may be ineligible to recover any compensation for injuries stemming from that incident.