Laws To Consider When Filing A Successful Dog Bite Lawsuit In Alabama

If you were bitten by a dog, then should consider filing a lawsuit against the owner of the dog. However, not every lawsuit is created equal and every state has different laws that will determine just how successfully your lawsuit will be. To help you out, here are some of the critical laws and rules that you should be aware of when it comes to dog bite lawsuits in Alabama:

The One-Bite Rule vs Strict Liability

Some states use the one-bite rule, while other use strict liability. Alabama uses a modified form of strict liability, which essentially says that the owner is to blame for any bites caused by their dog. However, compensation will be limited to economic damages unless you can prove that the owner knew that their dog was aggressive.

This means that you can get compensation for medical bills and other such expenses as a result of suing for any dog bite, but you can only sue for pain and suffering if you can prove that the other party was negligent or knew that their dog was capable of such aggression.

Property and Trespassing

Where the bite happened will also be heavily considered in determining liability. You can only sue for a dog bite in Alabama if you were bitten on the owner's property or if you were bitten while fleeing the owner's property, after being pursued by dogs.

However, you cannot sue if you were bitten while trespassing or in any other situation where you were on their property illegally.

Thus, your chances of winning a lawsuit are very poor if you were committing a crime such as trespassing at the time of the bite. As long as you had permission to be on their property and were bitten, then your lawsuit is good to go.

Contributory Negligence

Contributory negligence can also make or break your case, since it is massively influential on which lawsuits succeed and which do not. According to contributory negligence, you cannot gain compensation if you bore part of the blame for your injuries.

In other words, the defense only has to prove that you were 1% responsible for the bite in order to deny you any financial compensation at all. You'll need to build an exceptionally strong case to win a lawsuit in Alabama, whereas the requirements are much lower in most other states. Therefore, you should take any advice with a grain of salt if it pertains to a state other than Alabama.

For more information, contact an attorney such as Richard M Altman.

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