Mitigating Damages Following Injury

San Antonio, Texas Injury Lawyer Michael Grossman Discusses The Victim's Duty to Mitigate Damages

As the victim of a tort, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your injuries, property damage, lost wages, and other expenses through a personal injury lawsuit.

But you do have some responsibilities which, if ignored, could inhibit your ability to receive compensation. For instance, Texas law details a duty to mitigate damages. In other words, plaintiffs have a responsibility to take reasonable steps to limit further loss or injury after an accident.

As an example, let us say that you are doing construction work and you cut your hand on a piece of machinery. The cut is rather deep, but you are very busy, and you decide to continue working and then head home rather than visit a doctor for treatment. After a few days, your hand still hurts and is getting inflamed. But still, you put a bandage over the wound and continue on as normal. After another week, your hand is infected. Doctors are forced to amputate it. In this case, your employer would not be liable for the amputation because you could have likely prevented it if you had gone to a doctor shortly after you were injured. In other words, you failed to live up to your duty to mitigate your own damages.

Reasonable Versus Unreasonable Care

On the other hand, Texas law does not require a plaintiff to take unreasonable steps to mitigate damages. In the above scenario, you would not be required to spend two weeks in a sterilized room so your hand could heal. That would be an unreasonable step, and your failure to live in a bubble would not harm your case. The distinction between reasonable and unreasonable care is decided on a case-by-case basis, and it can be up for negotiation by an experienced attorney.

Mitigating your damages is necessary if you are to receive compensation for the full extent of your injuries. A jury may decide to reduce your settlement based on the percentage of your injuries that are due to you failing to mitigate damages. If you are found to be responsible for more than 50% of your own injuries, you may receive no compensation whatsoever.

Note that mitigation of damages is an affirmative defense, which means that the defendant’s attorneys must prove that you failed to mitigate your damages – it is not assumed. Although this does not mean you can count on the defense not being able to argue this point. Many defense lawyers have experience convincing juries that victims failed to mitigate their damages and thereby are not deserving of compensation.

If you or someone in your family has been hurt in an accident, experienced San Antonio personal injury lawyer Michael Grossman from Grossman Law Offices can help you. We can ensure that you do not accidentally damage your case by helping you seek medical treatment and dealing with insurance adjusters. If necessary, we will fight aggressively to defend your rights in court. For twenty years, we have helped victims who were injured in all kinds of accidents. We have successfully resolved and investigated hundreds of cases against every major insurance carrier in the nation. In many cases, their lawyers are so afraid of facing our attorneys in court that they fully cooperate with our settlement demands. This means that we can get you back on your feet and one with your life quickly. So if you have been injured in an accident, contact San Antonio personal injury attorney Michael Grossman today, and make sure you get the compensation you need and the justice you deserve.