Why It’s Important to Mitigate Damages After You Suffered a Personal Injury

Being injured in an accident can be a traumatic, overwhelming experience. Victims must deal with a number of daunting issues such as recovering from their injuries, a possible loss of income from an inability to work, and costly property repairs. However, it is important to keep in mind that anyone filing a personal injury lawsuit claiming they were injured by another’s negligence must take certain steps to avoid losing the chance to recover maximum compensation. Chief among these is the legal duty in California to mitigate damages. Read on for a basic overview of the legal duty facing plaintiffs and how it can impact your California personal injury lawsuit.

What is Mitigation of Damages in the Context of Personal Injury Lawsuits?

In California, plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits have a legal duty to mitigate damages that occur as a result of their injuries. The duty requires victims to make reasonable efforts and expenditures in order to lessen, resolve, or otherwise minimize both their injuries as well as the suffering those injuries have caused.

The standard for Mitigation of Damages

The duty to mitigate is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. This means that the reasonableness of the victim’s efforts is considered in light of the circumstances. This also includes the victim’s ability to make these efforts without either hardship or undue risk.

Reasonableness

Reasonableness is subjective, so it’s helpful to speak to an experienced California personal injury attorney about your situation. Factors determining reasonableness may include:

• Whether or not the victim knows they need to mitigate damages
• How much time passed between the infliction of injury and the efforts to mitigate
• The opportunities a victim has available to reduce their damages
• The victim’s financial position compared with the cost of mitigating damages

For example, an inability to afford certain expensive medical treatments that might mitigate your damages will likely not be held against you. However, you still will be expected to make some financial expenditures towards mitigating your damages.

What if I Failed to Mitigate?

If you fail to take steps to mitigate your damages, the court will reduce any award you receive by the amount that your damages could have been mitigated had you made reasonable efforts. For example, discontinuing treatment against the advice of your medical provider or not seeing a doctor at all would likely result in a severe reduction of damages.

Contact a California Personal Injury Attorney Today

It can be difficult after you’ve been injured to know exactly what steps to take to mitigate damages or whether you have done enough to avoid damaging your case. To avoid losing out on maximum compensation for your injuries, contact the experienced California personal injury attorneys at Daneshrad Law. Alan Daneshrad has spent years advising and representing victims like you, and he has helped them recover millions in compensation for their claims. Call us toll-free at (888) 881-3529 to schedule a no-obligation initial case review today. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing until we win your case. Let us evaluate your situation, answer your questions, and secure the best possible result for you.