If you’ve been injured in an accident that was someone else’s fault, you may have grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit against the responsible party in the Civil Branch of the District of Columbia Courts. A Washington, D.C., personal injury lawyer can guide you through the process.
Time Limits to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit
By law, you have a limited amount of time following an accident to file a lawsuit. This time limit is known as the statute of limitations, and under Washington, D.C., personal injury law, you have three years from the date you were injured to file a personal injury lawsuit, medical malpractice lawsuit or product liability lawsuit. If you wait even a day too long to file your case, you’ll be barred from recovering money from the responsible party.
Because lawsuits take time to prepare, it’s smart to hire a Washington, D.C., personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your accident. This helps ensure that your lawyer has plenty of time to learn about your accident, gather evidence and try to negotiate a settlement before filing your case.
Contributory Negligence
Under Washington, D.C., law (as well as the laws of Maryland or Virginia) if a victim bears any responsibility for his or her accident — even a small amount of blame — then he or she is unable to recover any money in connection with his or her accident. This is known as the doctrine of contributory negligence.
For example, suppose you’re texting on your phone while walking through a grocery store, you slip on a wet floor, fall and break your arm. In many states, you’d be able to recover money to compensate you for your injuries. But under contributory negligence laws, you might not be able to win any money. That’s because the store could argue that you were partially responsible for your accident, and if you weren’t texting on your phone, you would have seen the wet floor and avoided it.
Paying for a Personal Injury Lawsuit
In Washington, D.C., most personal injury lawyers charge what is known as a contingency fee when representing victims in personal injury lawsuits. This means the lawyer will receive a portion of any money you receive as a result of your lawsuit. You’ll owe nothing when you hire your lawyer, and if your case is unsuccessful, you’ll pay the attorney nothing.
