There are some states in the union which require that a dog first bite someone else before you can hold the dog’s owner responsible. Fortunately, Utah is not among those “one-bite” states.
The law in Utah, under Utah Code Ann. 18-1-1, imposes what is called “strict liability” on the dog’s owner for injuries stemming from an animal. Even if the dog chased after you and you fell, yet the dog never bit you, you can make a claim against the dog’s owner.
The Utah statute reads: “Every person owning or keeping a dog shall be liable in damages for injury committed by such dog, and it shall not be necessary in any action brought therefor to allege or prove that such dog was of a vicious or mischievous disposition or that the owner or keeper thereof knew that it was vicious or mischievous.”
With the Utah law being favorable as it is, an attorney will have a much easier time making a claim on behalf of the dog bite victim. This will result in increased value when the case is settled along with a quicker response from the dog owner’s insurance company since they know that they are responsible to pay. The question is: how much.