What Is Injury Law?

Lawsuits involving injury are concerned with civil infringements that can damage your body, mind and emotions. The aim of a successful lawsuit is to obtain funds to pay for damages such as medical bills and pain and discomfort.

It's not easy to avoid injuries, but you need to ensure that you are protected as much as is possible. If you're about to fall forward, tilt your head to protect it, and use your arms to help.

Negligence

Someone who suffers injury or other losses due to the negligence of another may file a lawsuit for negligence and pursue financial compensation. To prove their case, the plaintiff will need to establish four elements that are: breach of duty, causation and damages.

Negligence is the failure to act in a manner that reasonable people would act under similar circumstances. For instance, a driver, should obey traffic laws to prevent injuries or accidents to other road users. A doctor is required to treat patients in the same manner that a medical professional who has the same training would under similar circumstances. A lawyer may employ expert testimony to show that the defendant's conduct was below industry standards.

To prevail in a negligence lawsuit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant's breach was the main cause of the injury. This is referred to as legal causation, and a good personal injury attorney will claim that the actions of the defendant could be the sole cause of their injuries.

The plaintiff must show that their injuries caused verifiable monetary loss, such as medical bills and lost income. The most serious type of negligence is gross negligence, which entails the complete lack of concern for the safety of others. Gross negligence is the case when a nursing home is not able to change bandages for the patient for several days. In certain states, defendants can rely on a defense called contributory negligence to bar the plaintiff from claiming damages.

Statute of Limitations

If the negligence of someone else or reckless disregard for your safety leads injury to you, the law provides the victim with a certain amount of time to bring a lawsuit, referred to as the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations, as set by the legislature of the state, is intended to encourage prompt filing and prevent excessive delay.

The time frame for filing a claim differs from state to state and also depending on the type of injury and kind of injury. For instance, in Pennsylvania personal injuries, such as car accidents, you typically have two years from the date of the accident to submit claims. However, certain claims could be subject to the discovery rule. This means that the statute of limitation does not begin until the injury is discovered, or at least, should have been discovered.

In some cases, like cases involving intentional torts such as assaults and false imprisonment as well as defamation and intentional infliction emotional distress, the limitations period can be extended. The statute of limitations may be waived or tolled in specific circumstances, for example, when minors are involved, or the person is on military duty or in a prison.

If you try to file a suit after the statute of limitation has expired, your case may be dismissed without hearing. This is why it is important to speak with an experienced injury lawyer before the time when the statute of limitations runs out.

Damages

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

Other losses are harder to quantify, including suffering and pain, loss in enjoyment of life, and other intangible harms. In determining a dollar amount for personal losses such as emotional distress or physical pain can be difficult but attorneys and insurance companies employ formulas to attempt to quantify them.

A plaintiff in a sever whiplash case, for instance could have suffered severe injuries that impact their daily lives. They may have to ask for help with household chores, have a different diet, and not be able to enjoy social or recreational activities. The victim could experience an absence of pleasure and this is recoverable as general damages.

To determine the value of general damages claims, lawyers and insurers typically begin by calculating the total for medical special damages. They then add the value of any income loss. Then, they multiply this by a number between 1.5 and 5. Higher multipliers are usually associated with more severe injuries.

Liability

In law, the term "liability" refers to the person who is found to be liable for harm or injury. This can be due to negligence or strict liability. Most injury claims are based on the notion of negligence. Negligence is the failure to act with reasonable care under the circumstances. The jury decides what an average person in similar circumstances would do and then decides if defendant's actions and inactions violated this standard. However, certain injury cases are founded on strict liability, like when a defective product causes injuries.

In addition to the damages for economic losses, victims could be entitled to compensation for non-economic losses like suffering and pain. The amount of these damages is hard to determine, but our experienced injury lawyers are skilled in maximizing the value of your claim.

Most personal injury lawsuits are brought by one plaintiff against multiple defendants, but there are some that are multi-plaintiff cases such as class actions and mass torts. These plaintiffs could be corporations, such as insurance companies or a pharmaceutical company, or they could be individuals like you. In these situations, multiple parties can be held responsible based on the evidence presented by each plaintiff and on the findings of a thorough investigation. Contact us immediately if are injured due to another's negligence or wrongdoing.