What Is Injury Law?

The law of injury deals with civil wrongs that could cause harm to your body, mind and emotions. The goal of a successful injury lawsuit is to collect monetary compensation for damages like medical bills and pain and suffering.

It's not easy to avoid injuries like this, but it's essential to be as safe as you can. If you're going to fall forward, you should turn your head to shield it and use your arms.

Negligence

Anyone who suffers injuries or other losses due to another's negligent actions can file a negligence lawsuit and pursue financial compensation. But, the plaintiff must first prove four elements to establish their claim: breach of duty, breach causation, damages and breach of duty.

Negligence is defined as a person's failure to act with the level of care that reasonable prudent people would be expected to exercise in similar circumstances. For example, a driver should obey traffic laws to avoid accidents and cause harm to other people on the road. A doctor is required to treat patients in the same manner that medical professionals with the same training would in similar circumstances. A lawyer can employ expert testimony to show that the defendant's behavior fell below industry standards.

To prevail in a negligence case the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's breach of duty was a direct cause of their injuries. This is referred to as legal causation. A reputable personal injury lawyer will argue that the defendant’s actions were the sole cause of the plaintiff's injuries.

The plaintiff must prove that their injuries resulted in tangible financial loss including medical bills and lost income. A more serious type of negligence is gross negligence, injury lawsuits which is an unintentional disregard for others' safety. Gross negligence occurs the case when a nursing home does not change the bandages on the patient for a number of days. In certain states, defendants are able to use a defense called contributory negligence to prevent the plaintiff from seeking damages.

Statute of Limitations

When someone else's negligent actions or reckless disregard for your safety causes you to suffer injury in a legal way, the law grants you the victim with a certain period of time to make a claim, also known as the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is established by the state legislature to encourage timely filing and to prevent unreasonable delays.

The time limit for filing a claim varies from state to state, and for different types of injuries to the next. In Pennsylvania for instance car accidents, for instance can take two years to submit a personal injury law firms claim. However, certain claims could be subject to the discovery rule. This means that the statute of limitation is not set until the injury is discovered or could have been reasonably discovered.

In certain circumstances, such as cases involving intentional torts such as assaults and false imprisonment, as well as defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, the limitation period is extended. The statute of limitations may also be waived or tolled in certain circumstances, like when a minor is involved, or the person is serving in the military or incarcerated.

If you decide to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired, your case may be dismissed without hearing. It is therefore important to speak with an experienced injury lawyer prior to when the statute runs out.

Damages

Many costs related to an injury can be attributed to the price tag. Special damages can include medical expenses, cost-out-of-pocket, lost wages and the cost of repairing or replacing your property, in addition to other fixed sums. The law limits the amount you can recover from special damages.

Other losses don't come with a price tag and can be difficult to quantify like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and other intangible harms. It can be difficult to determine a dollar value for subjective losses like physical or emotional discomfort however, attorneys and insurance companies employ formulas to quantify them.

For instance, a plaintiff in a personal injury case for whiplash may have suffered serious injuries that cause lots of pain and a lot of difficulty in their day-to-day lives. They may have to seek assistance with household chores, eat differently, and miss out socializing or participating in recreational activities. The victim may experience an absence of pleasure and this can be recouped as general damages.

To determine the value of a claim for general damages, lawyers and insurers typically start with calculating the total for medical special damages. They then add the value of any income losses. They will then multiply this number by a range of numbers ranging from 1.5 to 5. The higher multipliers are generally associated with more severe injuries.

Liability

In law, liability refers to the person who is accountable for an injury or harm. It could be due to negligence or strict liability. Most lawsuits involving injuries are based on the idea of negligence. Negligence is the failure to act with reasonable care in the circumstances. Jurors determine what an average person would have done in similar circumstances and then determine if the defendant's conduct or inaction violated this standard. Some cases involving injuries are based solely on strict liability. For instance, when a defective product is the cause of injury.

Victims could also be entitled to compensation, in addition to damages for economic loss, for non-economic losses such as discomfort and pain. The amount of these damages is difficult to estimate however, our skilled lawyer for injuries are adept at maximizing the value of your claim.

The majority of personal injury lawsuits are brought by one plaintiff versus several defendants but there are some that are multi-plaintiff cases such as class actions and mass torts. One or more of these plaintiffs could be a company such as a pharmaceutical firm or an insurance company, or it could be an person who is similar to you. In these kinds of situations, multiple parties can be held liable depending on the evidence provided by each plaintiff and injury lawsuits the results of a thorough investigation. If you were injured by someone else's negligence or wrongful act and you are injured, call us immediately to discuss your case.