How to Use Vicarious Liability Law in a Personal Injury Case

If you are injured in a car accident, truck accident, or other event, then you may be able to bring a personal injury claim for legal responsibility against multiple parties for someone’s negligence. This facts stems from a legal doctrine in personal injury law known as vicarious liability.

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC specializes in indirect liability theories of employer liability such as the vicarious liability doctrine.

It can help you after a car accident or other wrongful act and our team can bring personal injury cases to make sure they are held liable for your serious injuries.

You may be able to recover damages and financial compensation for such injuries, lost wages, and other harms that the negligent conduct caused the injured person.

Contact our personal injury law firm and vicarious liability expert team for a free consultation today and continue reading the following sections on this same topic.

What is Vicarious Liability?

It is important to understand what vicarious liability is exactly so that you can predict when a legal relationship will allow you to hold someone vicariously liable for injuries suffered.

Here is what it does not mean: the injured victims or injured clients are holding them legally liable or legally responsible for their own negligence or wrongful actions.

Quite the opposite, vicarious liability personal injury laws allows defendants to be held vicariously liable, under respondeat superior legal theories, for harm that their inferiors inflict while subject to their control and for their benefit.

Basically, we should be able to hold employers liable for an accident that their employee causes while they were working in the scope of employment. Thus, respondeat superior will fail if it was negligence if one person that was not an employee (i.e. if independent contractors negligent acts caused the plaintiff injury).

Since this is not a proper employer employee relationship and there’s no scope of employment, the employers cannot be held responsible for the accident and wouldn’t get financial compensation.

Contact our personal injury law firm and vicarious liability lawyers to find out how a plaintiff can get a defendant held vicariously liable for their injuries. Call us toll free for a free consultation.

Who Can be Held Vicariously Liable?

Making the right master answer under respondent superior law is tricky so you want to be sure who vicarious liability applies to so you can get the right party held liable (or pursue their personal injury liability insurance).

Generally, any person or entity can be held vicariously liable as long as an agent working subject to their control and benefit negligently caused another’s damages.

For example, these typically apply to negligent employment incidents where an employee’s actions cause injury and the employees cannot pay for the harm that their injuries caused.

Therefore, you may want to seek liability against the employer for your injury that the employee caused in the course of his or her employment.

This negligent hiring may get the employer defendant on the hook for liability to the injured party or party acting on their behalf. Note, vicarious liability would not be transferred if the employee was working at the time of the crash or had detoured or frolicked away from the employer direction.

Then, they could not be held liable for what their employees did. Yet, you can find countless example of a party being handed liability in court because of the acts of an employee or other agent including these:

• Truck driver speeds and rear ends another passenger vehicle.
• Construction worker backs their forklift over the feet of a pedestrian.
• Grocery store employee does not clean up a spill that causes a slip and fall.
• Life guardian does not keep a proper watch as a swimmer drowns and dies.

Get in touch with us if you want another example of vicarious liability or if someone acting for someone else harmed you.

How Can an Attorney Make Sure Someone is Held Vicariously Liable?

Vicarious liability is difficult to establish. It is easy for an employer to get around liability.

Yet, with good counsel, you can overcome any objection to liability that an employer may through at you. Just work with your attorney to establish the following points:

1. The worker was engaged in work at the time of the negligence
2. The worker harmed you through negligent conduct.
3. You suffered damages as a result of the above acts.
4. There was no other third party responsible.

If you have questions about vicarious liability, contact us now.

What Financial Compensation Could I Obtain in a Case?

If you successfully sue an employer or other defendant under the principles of vicarious liability, you may be entitled to substantial sums of relief and recovery. Your precise award or settlement will depend upon your injuries.

The law generally allows you to recover for your economic and non economic damages. The former are your out-of-pocket losses and the latter is your intangible harms.

Speak to a qualified attorney to find out what help and financial assistance may be possible through a legal action.

Talk to Our Vicarious Liability Lawyers Today

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC has successfully argued many vicarious liability lawsuits. We know the grit and determination, skill and resources it takes to win a case like this.

Contact our personal injury firm at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone number) or use the contact form today to schedule a free consultation. We accept all personal injury cases through contingency fee agreements, meaning that no fees are paid until the case is successfully resolved.