Plaintiff’s Duty To Mitigate

Personal injury cases can get complicated pretty quick. Not only do they involve a lot of factors that can be difficult to prove —like a defendant’s duty, breach, causation and damages—but even when those hurdles have been met, a plaintiff, has obligations of his (or her) own that must be met. Even an innocent plaintiff who has been injured by someone else’s negligence must mitigate—or reduce— as much as possible, his damages.

The Duty to Mitigate.

The “duty to mitigate” (or “mitigation”) refers to the legal concept that requires a plaintiff who has been injured to reduce the damage that has been inflicted on him.

What?

Does that mean that someone who has been injured through no fault of his own has a duty to reduce the damage the other person caused him to suffer?

Yes, it does.

Every plaintiff has the obligation to take reasonable steps to avoid further loss and to minimize the consequences of the injury. In the context of a personal injury case, that means, for example, that you (as a plaintiff) have an obligation to seek medical attention, undergo surgery if recommended, or to seek other employment or re-train if necessary, or undertake any other reasonable steps necessary to mitigate as much as possible, the damage that was caused to you.

Why?

Because if you do not, the rule of mitigation of damages allows the judge or jury to reduce your right to recover that portion of your damages which the judge or jury finds you could have reasonably avoided.

How the Duty to Mitigate Works

It may be easiest to understand the way the duty to mitigate works by looking at an example. Let’s say that you are in a car accident and you break your leg. If your doctor recommends surgery as the only way to repair the break, and says you must stay off the leg for 6 months, and you refuse to have surgery and don’t stay off the leg for 6 months, you cannot later claim damages for the conditions that resulted from your refusal to have surgery and stay off the leg. If a reasonably prudent person would have followed the doctor’s advice, your damages will be reduced by the amount your failure to follow the doctor’s advice resulted in a lack of improvement in your leg, or aggravation of the break.

We Are Personal Injury Attorneys.

If you have been injured, we can help. We are personal injury attorneys with offices throughout Oregon. We have offices in Salem, Medford, Bend, Portland, Eugene, Albany, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, and several other cities in Oregon. We also have offices in Vancouver and Tri-Cities in Washington. You can call us toll free at: 1-800-682.9568.To set up an appointment, contact us here.

Libel and Personal Injury

Great place, America. It’s the land of the free and home of the brave. We’ve got the right to bear arms, and to say anything we want to.

Well, almost.

While we do have a Constitutional right to free speech, others have personal rights too. And it’s not unusual for one person’s free speech rights to run up against another person’s right to protect his reputation. You take your speech too far, and you just might run into the laws of defamation.

Defamation: Libel and Slander.

“Defamation” is the broad term that covers the civil tort of making statements that injure another’s business or personal reputation. Written statements that damage another’s reputation are called “libel.” Spoken statements are called “slander.”  A person who has suffered (or thinks he has suffered) a defamatory statement can sue the person who made the statement.

To prove either type of defamation, a plaintiff must prove 4 elements:

  1. a false statement purporting to be fact
  2. publication or communication of that statement to a third person
  3. fault amounting to at least negligence, and
  4. damages orsome harm caused to the person or entity who is the subject of the statement.

Libel and Social Media

The prevalence of access to the internet, and social media in particular, has made it easier than ever to make defamatory statements about people or their companies. For example, internet services like Yelp! are specifically designed to allow people to review and comment on other people’s businesses. With social media services (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) you can instantly publish comments and it’s not unusual for people to publish disparaging comments. Yet a false and damaging Yelp! review, tweet, YouTube video, or Facebook update can become a defamatory statement (libel) that is actionable by the person or company you are writing about. And that means that you could very well end up defending yourself in a defamation lawsuit.

Defenses and Privileges.

Not every statement that is injurious to a person’s or company’s reputation is actionable, however. State laws vary, but there are defenses and privileges that prevent a statement from being actionable as libel or slander. For example, “truth” is an absolute defense to all defamation claims. To prove defamation, a plaintiff must prove that the statement was false, and must show that the defendant was at fault. There are also absolute and qualified privileges that serve as defenses against libel or slander claims.

Know Your Rights!

If you are facing a defamation lawsuit or believe you have been defamed, contact us. We have offices in Tigard, Salem, Albany, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Bend, and several other cities in Oregon. We also have offices in Vancouver and Tri-Cities in Washington. You can call us toll free at: 1-800-682.9568.

Are You Responsible for Your Spouse’s Credit Card Debt?

 

Credit card debt tends to sneak up on you, and it can become a problem for many people. There are those that make irresponsible purchases, but overwhelming credit card debt can accumulate for other reasons. For example, if your child needs a tonsillectomy, and you don’t have health insurance or a significant amount of money in the bank, what are you going to do? Medical bills are one underlying cause of unmanageable credit card debt, but there are others. A loss of income can necessitate excessive credit card usage, and people sometimes run up credit card debts because they are trying to assist family members or friends.

The matter of credit card debt responsibility is pretty cut and dried if you are single and there are no co-signers on your account or accounts. However, what about people who are married? If your spouse cannot pay his or her credit card debt, are you liable? The answer depends on a number of different factors, including the state that you live in. Most states are common law states, and in these places, you would typically not be responsible for your spouse’s personal credit card debt as long as you are not a co-signer. However, creditors could seek to attach your spouse’s share of jointly owned property.

We practice in Oregon and Washington. Oregon is a common-law state, but Washington is one of a handful of community property states. In a community property state, generally speaking, you could be held responsible for credit card debts that your spouse incurred while you were married. Debts that were owed before the marriage would not fall into the community debt category. If a personal credit card was used to benefit both parties, it would typically be looked upon as community debt. On the other hand, if the purchase only benefited the cardholder, his or her spouse may not be liable for the debt.

If you would like to explore avenues that can lead to credit card debt relief, our firm would be more than glad to assist you. We offer free case evaluations to people in Grants Pass, Medford, Coos Bay, and a few other cities in Oregon and Washington, and you can set up an appointment right now if you give us a call at 1-800-682-9568.