Have you recently been the victim of a personal injury accident? These unfortunate events can change your life completely. Due to the unexpectedness of these accidents, victims may never be prepared to deal with the impending aftermath of these incidents.
Personal injury accidents can cause severe bodily damage. Some of the most common injuries are fractures, tears in soft tissues, and even loss of movement in limbs. Additionally, these incidents can lead to emotional distress. For instance, injury accidents can cause people to feel unsafe and endure posttraumatic stress disorders.
The truth of the matter is that these incidents also bring financial ramifications as well. You may be forced to miss work days to recover from your injuries. Even worse, if you’re not insured, you will have to take money out of your pocket to pay your medical bills.
In many cases, these incidents are caused by someone else’s poor decision-making. You see, individuals owe a duty of care for others in various instances within public life. A duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on people requiring them to follow a standard of responsibility while handling specific obligations.
Having said that, you may be asking yourself, “is there even a solution for my personal injury accident?” Luckily, there is one. As a victim of another party’s lack of responsibility, you are entitled to receive fair and just monetary compensation.
However, be advised that pursuing compensation on your own can turn out to be an uphill battle. Personal injury accidents require victims to prove instances of gross negligence. In other words, you must demonstrate that someone else’s irresponsible actions caused your pain and suffering. You should also know that the other party and its insurers may intend to undermine your claim in hopes of not paying what they owe.
What you need is to hire a negligence accident injury attorney. These accident lawyers can prove culpability and help you get compensated for all of your burdens. Join us as we talk about common personal injury accidents in our nation, their legalities, and the benefits of hiring an injury attorney for your own case.
What Is Personal Injury Law?
Personal injury law determines who’s responsible for your physical, emotional, and financial damages. Furthermore, personal injury accident cases are governed by state law.
As we mentioned before, the at-fault party must compensate victims for their losses. In order to obtain that compensation, victims must file a personal injury claim that complies with each state mandate. In the following situations, personal injury law may apply:
- Traumatic Accidents: Personal injury rules apply in cases where someone acts carelessly and inflicts harm on another individual.
- Intentional Acts: Personal injury law also comes into action in situations where the at-fault party intentionally harms someone else. Some examples of intentional acts are assault and battery.
- Defamation: Personal injury law applies when someone’s defamatory statement causes physical, emotional, and financial burdens to another person.
The Most Recurrent Personal Injury Accidents in The United States
- Car Accidents: These may be the most common incidents not only in our country but in the entire globe. Car accidents often occur when reckless individuals use their phones while driving, drive inebriated, or pass the speed limit. In terms of speeding, each state imposes its own speed limits in order to prevent these crashes. For instance, the speed limit in school zones in Oregon is 20 miles per hour.
Some states follow a no-fault car insurance system. After a car accident, your insurance coverage pays your medical bills and other losses as well as the bills of anybody else who was present with you in the crash.
- Slip and Fall Accidents: These are incidents where an individual trip and falls within someone else’s property. These accidents can be very dangerous because they can result in severe bodily trauma.
By law, establishment owners must keep their properties free of any potential hazards. Some examples of dangerous conditions are wet floors, cracked sidewalks, and torn carpeting. In order to obtain monetary compensation for their damages, accident victims must prove that:
- The establishment owner created the dangerous condition,
- The establishment owner knew about the hazard but did not remove it,
- The dangerous condition existed for such a length of time that the establishment owner should have discovered and eliminated it.
- Defective Product Liability: Manufacturers or sellers could be found liable if they produced a defective product to their consumers and it ends up injuring them. The following terms are some of the most common versions of defective product accidents:
- Defectively Manufactured Products: Individuals could file this type of claim if their injuries were caused by a manufacturing problem. In this scenario, the product caused harm when being used.. This means that there was a glitch and a manufacturing error from the beginning.
- Defectively Designed Products: In this case, the product’s design is inherently dangerous or defective. These claims do arise from mistakes in the manufacturing process. Instead, they highlight that the entire range of products is characteristically hazardous even if they were deemed safe by the manufacturer.
- Failure to Provide Proper Warnings or Instructions: A claim can be filed if the consumer suffers an injury and the product did not come with instructions or adequate warnings. This type of claim arises when a dangerous product is not visible to the consumer.
Stages of Filing a Personal Injury Accident Lawsuit
- Filing The Complaint: In this document accident victims are required to describe the following:
- Types and seriousness of their injuries,
- Causes of injuries,
- The person or party allegedly responsible for their damages,
- Pre-Trial and Discovery: In this stage, both parties can request each other to provide evidence that supports their statements. If the victim fails to prove that they were not responsible for the accident, the other party has the right to file a “motion to dismiss.” This document is used when the defendant believes that the alleged victim’s claim is invalid.
- Settling the Case: Most personal injury claims are settled without a trial. As a victim, you and your accident attorney will have to deal with the at-fault party’s insurers. Nonetheless, as we mentioned before, reaching a settlement with these firms can be quite complex as they are in the business of making and saving money.
- The Trial: If you were not able to reach a proper settlement with the at-fault party, your injury lawyer can force a trial in a court. At trial, the jury will determine the party responsible for the incident and the compensation that the victim is entitled to.
Advantages of Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney
- As you can see, filing a personal injury claim is not an easy task. You will also have to deal with complex legal verbiage written on these documents. That is why your personal injury lawyer can help you comprehend this specialized wording.
- Each injury claim must be filed before the deadline. You see, there is a law known as the “statute of limitations.” This is the time limit that accident victims are given to file their claim. If you do not file your claim on time, the court will surely deny your case. However, your accident attorney can help file it in a timely manner and make sure it complies with your state laws as well.
- Several personal injury lawyers work on contingency fees. These are a percentage of the recovered damages of the victim. If your case is not settled, they will not cost you a single dollar.
- In order to get compensated, gathering evidence is a must. For this reason, your accident attorney can seek the assistance of a private investigator that can acquire the necessary evidence that could support your allegations.
- By hiring an injury lawyer, you will receive the point of view of a legal expert. They have worked on dozens of cases similar to yours. That is why they’ll assist you with decision-making when it is time to negotiate with the at-fault party.
- If you are injured, negotiating with the other defendant can be a complete nightmare. However, your accident attorney can attend those meetings on your behalf while you recover from your damages.
- As we mentioned before, insurers are notorious for not correctly compensating victims. Rest assured that your personal injury lawyer can properly calculate your compensation and counter insurers’ dishonesties.
It’s Time to Get Compensated!
We thank you for reading our article. This information was brought to you by Pro Accident Lawyers. At our law firm, you will find the best negligence accident injury attorney in the nation. We will work 24/7 on your case and make sure that you receive the settlement you’re entitled to! All you have to do is pick up the phone and call us at (954)519-7614.