What Is Injury Law?

The law of injury is focused on civil wrongs that can cause damage to your body, emotions and mind. The goal of a successful injury lawsuit is to collect the financial compensation you deserve for damages such as medical bills and suffering and pain.

It is difficult to avoid injuries like this, but it's essential to take precautions as much as possible. For instance, if you are about to fall backwards, rotate your head and block it by using your arms.

Negligence

Someone who has suffered injuries or other damages as a result of negligence of another can make a claim for negligence and seek financial compensation. To prove their case the plaintiff will need to prove four things: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

Negligence is the failure to act in the manner that an ordinary person would under similar circumstances. For instance, a driver must obey traffic laws in order to avoid accidents and injury to others on the road. A doctor is required to treat patients in the same way that medical professionals who has the same training would in similar circumstances. A lawyer can also use expert testimony to prove that the defendant's conduct fell short of the standards set by industry.

To win a negligence claim the plaintiff must show that the defendant's failure to perform their duty was a direct cause for their injury. This is referred to as legal causation. A good personal injury lawyer will argue that the defendant’s actions were the sole reason for the plaintiff's injuries.

The plaintiff must show that their injuries have caused tangible financial loss including medical bills and lost income. A more serious type negligence is gross negligence, which entails the complete lack of concern for the safety of others. A nursing home that fails to change a patient's bandages over a period of several days is an instance of gross negligence. In certain states, defendants can use a defense called contributory negligence to prevent the plaintiff from claiming damages.

Statute of limitations

The statute of limitations is the time period that you must file a claim if someone else's negligence or reckless disregard of your safety results in harm. This time limit, set by the state legislature, is meant to encourage timely filing and prevent unreasonable delay.

The time period for filing a claim differs from state to state and also for different types of injuries to the next. In Pennsylvania for instance car accidents, for instance are covered for Injury Lawsuits two years to submit a personal injury claim. However, certain claims could be subject to what is known as the discovery rule, meaning that the statute of limitations does not begin until the injury has been discovered or should reasonably have been discovered.

In other cases that involve intentional torts such as assaults and defamation, false imprisonment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress the statute of limitations is extended. It is also possible for a statute of limitation to be waived or tolled like in the case of minors or a person who is incarcerated or serving on military duty.

If you decide to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has been reached, your case may be dismissed without hearing. It is therefore crucial to talk to an experienced injury lawyer well before the statute of limitations expires.

Damages

Many expenses associated with an injury can be attributed to cost. Special damages include medical expenses, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages and the cost of repair or replacement of your property, in addition to other fixed sums. The law does limit the amount you can recover in special damages.

Other losses don't carry a price tag and can be difficult to quantify for example, suffering and pain, loss of enjoyment in life and other tangible damages. It isn't easy to assign an exact value on subjective losses, such as emotional distress or physical discomfort, but lawyers and insurance companies use formulas to quantify their losses.

A plaintiff in a whiplash case, for example, may have suffered serious injuries that impact their daily life. They may need assistance with chores around the home, eat differently, and miss out on recreational activities or a social gathering with their family. The victim might experience an impairment in enjoyment and can recover this as general damages.

To estimate the value for a claim of general damages, lawyers or insurers typically begin by calculating the total of medical special damages. They then add the value of any lost income. They will then multiply this figure by a value ranging from 1.5 to 5. Higher multipliers are usually associated with more severe injuries.

Liability

In law, the word "liability" refers to a party who is found liable for an injury or damage. It could be due to strict liability or negligence. The majority of lawsuits involving injuries are based on the notion of negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise with reasonable care under the circumstances. Jurors consider what reasonable people would have done in similar circumstances and then determine whether the defendant's action or inaction violated the standard. However, some injury cases are built on strict liability, like the event that a defective product causes injuries.

In addition to the damages for economic losses, victims could be entitled to compensation for damages that are not economic like suffering and pain. The amount of these damages can be difficult to determine but our expert injury lawyers are skilled in maximizing the value your claim.

Some personal injury lawsuits involve multiple plaintiffs, such as class actions or mass torts. The plaintiffs may be corporations such as insurance companies or a pharmaceutical company or they could be individuals just like you. In these instances, multiple parties may be held responsible depending on the evidence provided by each plaintiff as well as the results of an investigation. Contact us immediately if you have been injured by another's negligence or wrongdoing.