What Is Injury Law?

The law of injury deals with civil infringements that can affect your body, mind and emotions. The purpose of an injury lawsuit is to obtain monetary compensation for damages like medical bills and suffering and pain.

It’s hard to avoid injuries, but you should take every precaution to protect yourself. If you’re about to fall forward, tilt your head to shield it and use your arms.

Negligence

A person who has sustained injuries or other damages as a result of the negligence of another person can file a lawsuit for negligence and seek financial compensation. However, the plaintiff must prove four things to establish their case: duty, breach, causation and damages.

Negligence is the failure to act in the manner that an ordinary person would under similar circumstances. For example, a driver must obey traffic laws to avoid accidents and injury to others on the road. A doctor is obliged to give patients the same level of care that a similarly trained medical professional would provide in similar situations. A lawyer can also use expert testimony to demonstrate that the defendant’s behavior was in line with industry standards.

To win a negligence case, the plaintiff must prove that the breach of the defendant was the main cause of the injury. This is known as legal causation. A reputable 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 resulted in a verifiable financial loss, for example medical bills or loss of income. A more serious type of negligence is gross negligence, which involves the complete lack of concern for others’ safety. A nursing home that fails to change the patient’s bandages for several days is an instance of gross negligence. In certain states, defendants can use a defense referred to as contributory negligence in order to keep the plaintiff from claiming damage.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the period of time which you must file a claim if someone else’s negligence or reckless disregard of your safety causes harm. This time frame is established by the state legislature to encourage timely filing and prevent unreasonable delays.

The statute of limitations varies from state to state and Injury attorneys also depending on the type of injury to the next. For instance the case of Pennsylvania personal injury cases such as car accidents, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to submit a claim. However, certain claims could be subject to what is called 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 instances like those that involve intentional torts, like assaults and defamation, false imprisonment and intentional infliction on emotional distress, the statute of limitations is extended. A statute of limitations can be waived or tolled in specific situations, for instance when minors are involved, or Injury attorneys a person is on military duty or incarcerated.

If you attempt to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired, your lawsuit could be dismissed without hearing. This is why it is essential to consult an experienced lawyer for injury before the time when the statute of limitations runs out.

Damages

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

Other losses don’t carry an associated price and may be difficult to calculate for example, suffering and pain, loss of enjoyment of life and other intangible harms. It is difficult to determine a dollar value for subjective losses like physical or emotional pain can be challenging but attorneys and insurance companies make use of formulas to attempt to quantify these losses.

A plaintiff in a sever whiplash case, for instance might have sustained serious injuries that impact their daily lives. They may have to seek help with chores around their home, eat differently, and not be able to participate in recreational activities or socializing with family. The victim could experience an absence of enjoyment, and this can be recouped as general damages.

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

Liability

In law legal terms, liability refers the person who is responsible for an injury or harm. It could be due to negligence or strict liability. Negligence is the basis of most injury attorney claims. Negligence means that you have failed to act with a reasonable amount of diligence in the circumstances. The jury decides what an ordinary person in similar circumstances would have done and then decides if defendant’s actions and inactions violated this standard. Some injury cases are solely based on strict liability. For instance, when a defective product is the cause of injury.

In addition to damages for economic losses, the victims may be entitled to compensation for non-economic losses such as suffering and pain. It’s difficult to quantify these damages however, our injury attorneys are adept at maximizing your claim’s value.

Some personal injury lawsuits are multi-plaintiff like class actions or mass torts. These plaintiffs could be corporations such as insurance companies or pharmaceutical company or they could be individuals just like you. In these types of cases, multiple parties can be held responsible based on the evidence provided by each plaintiff and the results of a thorough investigation. If you were injured by the negligence of someone else or due to a wrongdoing get in touch with us immediately to discuss your case.