According to the U.S. legal system, every person that has been charged with a crime should have the opportunity to present a defense. Usually, a defendant has at least one lawyer. That lawyer’s training should give him or her the ability to introduce several defense strategies.

What do defense lawyers hope to achieve by using tested defense strategies?

Some of them are focused on reducing a client’s liability charge. Others hope to encourage a dismissal of the charges against their client.

One common strategy: claiming assumption of risk on the plaintiff’s part

If an attorney had decided to use this particular strategy, then he or she would suggest that the plaintiff knew about the dangers that were associated with the situation that had caught the plaintiff’s interest. The assumption of risk defense normally gets used when a plaintiff has been injured at a recreational facility, or during a sporting event.

In the past, personal injury lawyers could fight that defense tactic, especially if a facility’s equipment, or the field for a sporting event, were of sub-par quality. In such cases, a dangerous activity has been made even more dangerous.

Today, though, a growing number of facilities have their customers sign a form that constitutes an agreement to use the available equipment as is. Hence, the client’s signature would weaken any argument that a plaintiff’s lawyer might attempt to make in a courtroom.

An alternate strategy: Claiming the plaintiff had retained a medical problem, one that was caused by an earlier injury.

That strategy’s introduction would follow an allegation that the plaintiff had sustained the reported injury even before he or she chose to pursue the rather dangerous activity. The Personal Injury Lawyer in St John’s for the plaintiff could respond to that allegation by offering proof that the defendant’s suggested activity had caused the plaintiff’s condition to become markedly worse than it was before.

One final possible tactic from the defense team

Sometimes the team representing the defendant might argue that the plaintiff had failed to mitigate the effects of his or her injury. Insurance companies expect each claimant to mitigate the effects of any reported injury. That is why anyone that has been injured in an accident ought to arrange to be examined by a doctor just as soon as possible.

That advice applies to each and every occupant of an automobile that has been damaged during a car accident. Even those occupants that appear unhurt should pay a visit to a doctor’s office, a medical clinic or a hospital.

Sometimes the doctor that has been asked to examine the injured victim needs to obtain some information, regarding the patient’s pre-existing condition. In the absence of such information, a physician might overlook the victim’s aggravated condition.