What Is Injury Law?

The law of injury deals with civil infringements that can harm your mind, body and emotional. The goal of a successful injury lawsuit is to recover money for damages like medical bills, suffering and pain.

It's not easy to avoid injuries like this, but it's essential to protect yourself as much as possible. For example, if you will fall backwards, make sure to rotate your head and block it with your arms.

Negligence

Anyone who suffers injuries or other losses due to negligence of another's may file a negligence lawsuit and seek financial compensation. To prove their case the plaintiff must prove four things: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

Negligence is the inability to act in the manner that reasonable people would act under similar circumstances. For instance, a driver must obey traffic laws to avoid accidents and cause harm to other people on the road. A doctor is obliged to give patients the same level of care that a similarly qualified medical professional would give in similar situations. A lawyer may also rely on expert testimony to demonstrate that the defendant's behavior was short of the standards set by industry.

To prevail in a negligence case the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's breach of duty was a direct cause of their injury. This is called legal causation. A competent personal injury lawyer will claim that the actions of the defendant were the only possible reason for their injuries.

The plaintiff must show that their injuries have caused an actual loss of money, such as lost income and medical bills. A more serious form of negligence is gross negligence, which entails an absolute lack of concern for others' safety. A nursing home that fails to change the patient's bandages for a period of time is an example of gross negligence. In some states, defendants are able to use a defense called contributory negligence to prevent the plaintiff from claiming damages.

Statute of Limitations

If the negligent actions of another or careless negligence for your safety cause injuries to you in a legal way, the law grants you a limited amount of time to bring a lawsuit, referred to as the statute of limitations. This time limit, set by the state legislature, is meant to encourage timeliness in filing and prevent excessive delay.

The time limit for filing a claim varies from one state to another and also depending on the type of injury and type of injury. In Pennsylvania for instance car accidents, you have two years to file a personal injury claim. Nevertheless, certain claims may be subject to the discovery rule. This means that the statute of limitation does not start until the injury is discovered, or at least, should have been discovered.

In some instances, like those involving intentional torts such as false imprisonment and assaults, as well as defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, the limitation period is extended. It is also possible for a statute of limitations to be waived or to be tolled, such as in the instance of minors or a person who is incarcerated or on military duty.

If you decide to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired your case could be dismissed without being heard. This is why it is essential to consult an experienced injury lawyer before the statute of limitations runs out.

Damages

A variety of costs associated with an injury can be attributed to a price tag. Special damages can include medical expenses, out-of-pocket expenses, lost earnings and the cost of the repair or replacement of your property, in addition to other fixed sums. The law does not limit the amount of specific damages you can recover.

Other losses do not have any price and can be difficult to quantify like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life and other harms that are intangible. It can be difficult to put a value on subjective losses like physical or emotional pain but attorneys and insurance companies employ formulas to quantify their losses.

A person who is a plaintiff in a whiplash case, for instance might have suffered serious injuries that impact their daily life. They may have to seek help with chores around the home, change their diet and miss out on recreational activities or a social gathering with their family. The victim may suffer the loss of enjoyment that can be compensated through general damages.

To determine the value of a claim for general damages, lawyers and insurers typically begin by calculating the total for medical special damages. They then add on the value of any income losses. They then multiply this amount by a number between 1.5 and 5. The more severe injuries usually result in more multipliers.

Liability

In law, liability refers to the party found responsible for harm or injury. It could be due to negligence or strict liability. Negligence is the foundation of the majority of lawsuits involving injuries. Negligence involves failing to act with a reasonable level of diligence in the circumstances. The jury will determine what an average person in similar circumstances would have done and then decides if defendant's actions and inactions violated the law. Some injury cases are solely based on strict liability. For instance, when defective products are the cause of injuries.

In addition to damages for economic losses, victims may be entitled to compensation for damages that are not economic such as pain and suffering. The amount of these damages is difficult to determine but our expert lawyers for injury are adept at maximizing the value of your claim.

The majority of personal injury lawsuits involve a single plaintiff against multiple defendants, however, there are some multi-plaintiff suits such as class actions and mass torts. One or more of these plaintiffs could be an entity like a pharmaceutical company or an insurance company or it could be another individual who shares your. In these types of cases, a variety of parties can be held responsible based on the evidence provided by each plaintiff and the outcome of an investigation. Contact us immediately if you have been injured by another's negligence or wrongdoing.