California motorcycle accident attorney advice: Filing Your Complaint

THE DEFENDANT ANSWERS
Usually an attorney appears on behalf of the Plaintiff and files an answer; a formal pleading with the court. The Defendant will always initially deny liability (that he is responsible for the accident) and deny the Plaintiff was damaged. The Defendant will deny all allegations in the complaint, even if the complaint states that "the sun will rise tomorrow."

Why may the Defendant do this? Because the law affords him the opportunity, at the outset of the case, before he conducts any investigation, to generally deny everything; to put all allegations of the Plaintiff's complaint in issue.

DEFENDANT'S AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES
The Defendant additionally pleads a number of standard, boilerplate affirmative defenses to his case, whether it is a motorcycle accident case or any other kind of case. Some of the more common defenses are:
1. The complaint fails to state a cause of action. (Defendant is saying that even if Plaintiff proves everything he alleges in his complaint, the court still would not grant Plaintiff recovery).

2. The Plaintiff's claim is barred in whole or in part because the Plaintiff's own conduct contributed to the damages of Plaintiff.

3. Plaintiff failed to mitigate their damages. (Once injured, a Plaintiff is under an obligation to seek reasonable medical treatment).

4. Defendant failed to exercise ordinary care to avoid the accident.

5. If Plaintiff was injured, the injuries are due to the negligence of another party.