Personal Injury Law Center

Personal Injury

Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury law is a broad term used to apply to a wide range of accidents and injuries, ranging from car accidents to slip and fall accidents to medical mistakes. Personal injury cases most commonly involve negligence, or the failure to take reasonably safe action, but some types of personal injury cases – particularly those injuries and accidents caused by defective products – involve strict liability, which hold a manufacturer liable regardless of whether the manufacturer knew of the defect.

Common Types of Personal Injury Accidents

Personal injury cases can involve a wide range of accidents, injuries, defendants, and legal claims. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you contact a personal injury lawyer if you were injured or a loved one was killed in an accident involving negligence.

Some of the more common types of personal injury cases involve the following:

• Car Accidents and Other Motor Vehicle Accidents. Millions of motor vehicle accidents happen every year, resulting in thousands of fatalities and millions of injuries. In fact, in 2012 alone, 33,561 people died and 2.36 million people were injured in motor vehicle accidents in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
• Slip and Fall Accidents. Falls continue to be one of the leading causes of unintentional injuries in the United States, resulting in approximately 8.9 million emergency department visits each year. Moreover, falls are a leading cause of injury-related fatalities for adults age 73 and older, and the second leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 60 and 72.
• Medical Malpractice. Medical errors result in a large number of preventable injuries and deaths each year. In fact, according to a recent study, medical errors are the third leading cause of death, with an estimated 220,000 to 440,000 deaths in the U.S. attributed to medical malpractice each year.
• Construction Accidents. With hazardous conditions and dangerous equipment on site, construction work sites are a common venue for accidents and injuries. Not only are construction workers injured in construction accidents, but pedestrians, bystanders, and motorists can also be injured in construction work zones.
• Defective Products. Dangerous and defective products – such as unsafe pharmaceuticals, defective medical devices, and auto defects – can result in wide scale accidents and injuries. For this reason, personal injury claims for dangerous or defective products are often pursued as a class action lawsuit.
• Dog Bites and Animal Attacks. Approximately 4.5 million Americans are bitten by a dog each year, according to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), with one in five of these dog bites serious enough to require medical attention. State laws vary regarding liability for dog bites, with some states holding owners liable for injuries and damages caused by an unprovoked dog; other states have “one bite laws,” under which dog owners are only liable if the dog has previously bitten or attacked someone.
• Work-Related Accidents. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, in 2012, there were 4,383 fatal work injuries and nearly 3 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses. Work-related accidents can include those accidents that happen in the workplace, as well as those that happen outside of the workplace while the employee was still on the job. Although the liability of employers for work-related accidents is limited to workers’ compensation benefits, injured workers may be able to bring a third-party personal injury claim against any other negligent parties.

 

Should I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Accident and injury victims often have several questions about their legal rights, and wonder whether it makes sense to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. In some situations, an accident or injury victim will receive a settlement offer from an insurance company. For instance, an individual injured in a slip and fall accident at a hotel may receive an offer of money from the hotel’s insurance company. In these situations, the injured party will need to decide whether to accept the insurance settlement or pursue a personal injury lawsuit. In other situations, however, there will be no insurance settlement offer, leaving the injured party with little recourse aside from filing a personal injury lawsuit.

A personal injury claim begins when the injured party, or plaintiff, files a complaint in the applicable court of law. Personal injury claims are subject to statutes of limitation, or time limits, on when the claim can be filed so it is important to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible in order to ensure a timely filing of the claim.

Although personal injury laws vary from state to state, generally, in order to pursue a personal injury claim, the injured party must show that the defendant is liable by proving the following:

• The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care;
• The defendant did not comply with his or her duty of care;
• The plaintiff suffered injuries as a result of the defendant’s actions or inaction; and
• The defendant’s failure to comply with his or her duty of care was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

The defendant in a personal injury case will have an opportunity to dispute the facts of the case, and may also attempt to refute the plaintiff’s claim of liability through various defenses, such as:

• Comparative negligence: Many states limit the amount that a plaintiff may recover based on the extent to which he or she was partially responsible for causing the accident.
• Contributory negligence: A small number of states completely bar liability if the plaintiff was more than 50% responsible for the accident.
• Assumption of risk:In some cases, a defendant may be able to avoid liability if the plaintiff created an inherently dangerous situation or assumed certain risk.
• Product misuse or unrelated causes: Some states limit liability if a personal injury accident occurred as a result of an unforeseeable misuse of the product or if the injury or death was the result of an unrelated cause.
• Statute of limitations: If the injured party does not file the personal injury claim in a correct court of law within the applicable statute of limitations, he or she will forfeit his or her legal right to pursue the claim.

In deciding whether to file a personal injury claim in a court of law, there are several things to consider:

• Insurance settlements are subject to the policy limits. In many cases, injuries and damages exceed the policy limits of an insurance policy, which leaves the injured party with inadequate financial recovery. By pursuing a personal injury case, you will not be limited to the insurance policy limits.
• Insurance companies are in the business of generating profits, so they often seek to settle a personal injury claim for as little money as possible.
• You may be able to receive money for future medical expenses and lost wages in a personal injury lawsuit. Because medical treatment is often not complete at the time an insurance settlement is offered, it won’t include amounts for future medical expenses, lost wages, or rehabilitation. A lawsuit will be able to account for all damages, including current and future medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.
• You may have multiple causes of action against multiple defendants. A personal injury lawsuit will allow you to name multiple defendants and assert multiple causes of action, whereas an insurance settlement will just deal with one negligent party.

 

Personal Injury Damages

If you choose to file a personal injury lawsuit and are successful in proving that the defendant was negligent and liable, you may be able to recover the following money damages:

• Current and future medical expenses
• Current and future rehabilitation expenses
• Current and future lost wages
• Disability benefits
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Property damages

In some personal injury cases, an injured party may be able to recover punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter future misconduct.

 

Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer

Because there are strict time limitations on when an injured party can file a personal injury claim, it is important to consult with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. The applicable statute of limitations varies from state to state and based on the type of personal injury accident and named defendant. A personal injury attorney will be able to determine the applicable statute of limitations and help you file your claim in a timely manner. It is also important to contact a personal injury lawyer promptly after an accident or injury in order to preserve the necessary evidence to support your personal injury claim.