Personal injury is the area of law that covers accidents and injuries that cause you physical or emotional harm
A personal injury case is typically brought when someone suffers actual bodily or emotional harm. Injuries can be caused because another party acted recklessly, negligently or maliciously.
Personal injury lawsuits typically cover three key problems that can appear following an incident:
Actual bodily harm
Pain and suffering
Emotional distress
Actual bodily harm is a fairly easy concept to understand. If someone were hurt in a motor vehicle incident by a reckless driver, the injured person would expect to be compensated.
Car accident claims are the most common personal injury claims in the US. Millions of Americans sustain injuries from car accidents each year. Most of them decide to file personal injury lawsuits to receive compensation.
The cause of the accident could be drivers under the influence or careless drivers who are distracted by their phones. It could involve anything from cars, trucks, motorbikes, buses, or pedestrians. Sometimes it can be hard to prove who is at fault, and in such cases, it’s crucial for the victims to have reputable legal aid representation. This makes getting a settlement possible, if not easier.
In most personal injury lawsuits, the drivers are found liable for the accidents. They are required to take responsibility for the injuries.
Slip and fall accidents can be deceptively dangerous. They cause injuries to the neck, back, arms, legs, shoulders, and sometimes heads. Falls are the most common causes of brain injuries and hip fractures.
Victims are forced to stay out of work for extended periods of time. Some sustain permanent injuries that affect their whole lives. In such cases, filing for personal injury claims is crucial. Having a professional legal firm, such as Sweet Lawyers, is of absolute necessity.
Medical malpractice or negligence by nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals can cause severe injuries to patients. Most medical malpractice personal injury claims arise when healthcare professionals fail to deliver competent care.
At times, it a matter of healthcare practitioners making mistakes, albeit unintentionally. Regardless they leave the patient with significant injuries that impact their lives negatively. These cases are some of the most complicated claims. They could be anything from surgical mistakes, birth injuries, misdiagnosis, improper treatment, and pharmacy errors.
The society is getting more and more violent by the day, and gun-related assault injuries top the list of assault personal injury claims. Unlike some of the most common types of personal injury claims, assaults are usually not a result of negligence.
Assault injuries occur when a person decides to hurt another person. Most of the time, an assault personal injury claim will involve an additional criminal aspect case against the perpetrator.
Workplace personal injury cases are filed by employees who get injured on the job. The injuries could arise as a result of unsafe working conditions, malfunctioning equipment, or insufficient training. This is among the most common types of personal injuries resulting in most common personal injury claims.
Workplace injuries fall under the worker’s compensation policy in the US. Once injured employees file for personal injury lawsuits, they seek compensation for medical expenses, missed income, among others. Jobs with the highest number of workplace injuries include material movers, nursing assistants, trailer drivers, laborers, among others.
According to the laws, employers must provide benefits to their injured employees and offer them a lump-sum benefit in case of partial or permanent disability. In this case, an experienced worker’s compensation lawyer would be better at getting a worthy settlement.
Premises claims may not be the most common personal injury claims, but they happen often enough. These claims follow accidents that occur on other people’s properties. They may be caused by defective or dangerous conditions that a person is not aware of. They can happen anywhere from malls to grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, swimming pools, or a neighbors property.
Most businesses adhere to stringent rules during the manufacturing process of their products. They usually take the initiative to test them before launching them in the market for consumption. Still, some defective products find their way into the market, and they can result in certain injuries to consumers.
If you were to encounter an injury due to a defective or unsafe product, you could file a personal injury claim against the distributor or the manufacturer of the product.
Personal injury cases don’t just have to be physical injuries. Sometimes they can be emotional. Defamation claims, for instance, involves statements that can damage your reputation, especially if publicized. It may also be slander. Some of the injuries you would encounter include disgrace, personal humiliation, lost earnings or lost earning capacity.
The construction industry is highly regulated but remains dangerous. The physical demands of the job usually result in significant injuries. Construction sites are typically filled with hazardous materials, equipment, and substances, and possible falling objects and debris. There is always a chance that someone will get injured in a construction site.
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but this does not stop them from attacking. Millions of people are bitten by dogs each year, with thousands of them ending up in the hospital as a result. Most of the time, the dog owners are held accountable, but this may vary from state.
Some states have “strict liability” where dog owners are legally responsible for the bite or attack. The dog may have never been aggressive, and it may never have bitten anyone else before, but the owner is still held accountable. In other states, the owner is only held accountable provided they knew that their dog was dangerous and had the potential to attack.
The problem with this case is that it’s not easy to determine whether an owner knew their dog was potentially dangerous. This makes it important to have a personal injury attorney handling the claim.
52% of personal injury claims were due to motor vehicle accidents
17% were due to premises liability
15% were the result of medical malpractice
5% occurred due to product liability
Damages are categorized as either special or general. In torts, special damages are measurable costs which can be itemized such as medical expenses, lost earnings, and property damages whereas general damages include less measurable costs such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium, the effects of defamation, and emotional distress. Personal injury torts may result in claims for both special and general damages.
Aside from compensation for injuries, the injured person may get compensated for the lifetime effect of the injuries. An example, a keen cricketer suffers a wrist injury which prevents him from playing cricket during the cricket season. This is called loss of enjoyment of life and is compensable. Additionally, lost earning capacity (Future ability to learn) and future reasonably necessary medical expenses are recoverable.
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