I was hurt at a concert who is responsible for my injuries?

Recently on our legal forum a user asked, "If I have been hurt at a concert who is responsible for my injuries." If you have been injured from the negligent actions of another person or entity the first step is to consider who was responsible. Did you trip and fall? Did lights fall from the ceiling and send you to the hospital? Did the lead singer kick you in the face when you reached up too grab his pants leg? Concerts can be dangerous events but the type of injury you sustained, who caused the injury, and whether they were negligent will be the first questions you need to ask.

Winning a personal injury claim

To win a personal injury claim you will first need to establish that your injury was caused by someone who owed you a duty of care. Next, you will need to prove they breached their duty, and their breach was the proximate cause of your injuries. Next, you will need to prove you actually suffered loss or injury.

Let's look at the examples above. For example, if you tripped and fell at the concert and suffered injury this type of claim is a premise liability claim. Winning these cases can be tough. First, you must prove the owner of the property knew or should have known that a dangerous condition existed. Next, you must prove they were negligent in not fixing or removing the condition, and it was this negligence which caused your injuries. Finally, in some states you might have to prove that your actions did not contribute to your own injuries. This could be especially tough at a concert where a patron's actions, including intoxication, could impair their decision making abilities.

What if another person hit you or punched you in the face? Under some conditions this could be considered both a civil and criminal case. If you were seriously injured you should have called the police and had a criminal report filed and sought immediate medical attention. If you do not know who hit you and you cannot identify your assailant it will be hard to win your case. Next, ask yourself whether or not you might have contributed to your own injuries. Did you hit them first? Did you push, shove or harass them? All of these actions could affect your ability to recover damages in some states.
Injury by a third party product

In some cases concert goers may be injured due to the defects of a third party product. For example, if you are hit in the eye by flying glass from an exploding light, under some conditions, you might be able to recover compensation from the manufacturer of the light bulb. Product liability cases may be won under strict liability law which does not require you to prove negligence but rather only establish a product was defective in nature and quality, the product injured you, and your injury was caused by the product and its defective quality.

So as you can see, without understanding the nature of your injury it's impossible to say for sure who you could sue.