The duty to prove a claim.

"Duty" means the obligation falls on one side, not both sides equally. In most civil injury cases, that side is the plaintiff - the person bringing the lawsuit. "Prove" does not mean proving something beyond all doubt. In a New York personal injury case, the usual standard is preponderance of the evidence, meaning the facts are more likely true than not. And "claim" means each part that must be established, such as negligence, causation, and damages. If even one piece is weak, the whole case can be undervalued, delayed, or dismissed.

This matters because insurers and defense lawyers look for gaps. If medical records are incomplete, witnesses disappear, or photos were never taken, they may argue the injury was preexisting, minor, or unrelated to the accident. The burden of proof shapes settlement value from the start: the stronger the evidence, the harder it is for the other side to downplay what happened.

In New York, missing an early deadline can wreck a valid case before the evidence is ever weighed. Claims against the MTA or a city agency usually require a Notice of Claim within 90 days under New York General Municipal Law § 50-e. That trap shows up often in pedestrian and cyclist crashes, including serious cases arising in places like Brooklyn, where liability may seem obvious but still must be proven properly.