What Is Injury Law?

The law of injury is focused on civil offenses that cause harm to your body mind and emotions. The goal of a successful lawsuit is to recover the amount of money you paid for damages like medical bills, discomfort and pain.

It's hard to avoid injuries such as this, however it is important to ensure you are protected as much as you can. For instance, if are likely to fall backwards, try to rotate your head and block it with your arms.

Negligence

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

Negligence is defined as a person's inability to exercise the level of care that reasonable and prudent people have in similar situations. For instance, a driver, should obey traffic laws to avoid injuries or accidents to other road users. A doctor is obliged to provide patients with the kind of care equivalent to what a similarly trained medical professional would provide in similar situations. A lawyer may also rely on expert testimony to demonstrate that the defendant's conduct fell far from the norms of the industry.

To be successful in a negligence claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant's breach of duty was the 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 cause of the plaintiff's injuries.

The plaintiff must show that their injuries caused an identifiable financial loss, such as medical bills or loss of income. Gross negligence is a more severe form of negligence, as it involves a complete disregard for the safety of others. A nursing home that does not change a patient's bandages for several days is an instance of gross negligence. In some states, defendants can use a defense called contributory negligence to bar the plaintiff from claiming damages.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the period of time which you must submit a claim when someone else's negligence or reckless disregard of your safety causes harm. This limit, set by the legislature of the state, is designed to encourage prompt filing and prevent unreasonable delay.

The time period for filing a claim can vary from state to state and also depending on the type of injury. For instance when it comes to Pennsylvania personal injury cases, such as car accidents, you typically have two years from the date of the accident to file claims. However, certain claims could be subject to what is known as the discovery rule, which means that the statute of limitations does not begin until the injury has been discovered or should have been discovered.

In other situations that involve intentional torts such as assaults or defamation, false imprisonment and deliberate infliction or damage to emotional distress the statute of limitations is extended. A statute of limitations can also be exempted or tolled in some circumstances, like when a minor is involved, or an individual is on military duty or incarcerated.

If you decide to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired, your case could be dismissed without hearing. This is why it is important to speak with an experienced injury attorney well before the time when the statute of limitations runs out.

Damages

Many of the expenses that result from an injury come with an associated cost. These are referred to as special damages. They can include medical expenses, out-of-pocket costs, lost wages the cost to repair or replace your property, and other fixed costs. The law does not limit the amount of these damages that you can seek.

Other losses don't carry an estimated price and can be difficult to calculate such as the pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life and other intangible harms. It isn't easy to assign a value on subjective losses, such as physical or emotional pain, but insurance companies and attorneys use formulas to quantify them.

For example, a plaintiff in a personal injury suit for whiplash may have suffered serious injuries that have caused many pains and discomfort to their daily life. They might need to seek help with household chores, eat differently and injury lawsuits not be able to enjoy social or enjoying leisure activities. The victim may suffer a loss of enjoyment and can recover this as general damages.

To determine the value of general damages claims lawyers and insurance companies typically begin by calculating the total for medical special damages, and then add the value of any income losses. Then, they multiply this number by a number between 1.5 and 5. The more severe injuries usually result in greater multipliers.

Liability

In law, the word "liability" refers to the person who is found liable for harm or injury. This can be due to negligence or strict liability. Negligence is the basis for a majority of lawsuits involving injuries. Negligence is the inability to act with reasonable care under the circumstances. Jurors evaluate what an average person would have done in similar circumstances and decide if the defendant's actions or inaction broke this standard. However, some injury cases are built on strict liability, for instance, when a defective product causes injuries.

Victims could also be entitled to compensation, in addition to the economic damages, for non-economic losses like pain and discomfort. It's hard to estimate these damages however, our injury lawyers are experienced in maximizing the value of your claim.

The majority of personal injury lawsuits involve one plaintiff versus several defendants but there are some that are multi-plaintiff cases like class actions or mass torts. One or more plaintiffs could be a corporate entity like a pharmaceutical company or an insurance company or it could be another individual like you. In these situations, several parties may be held responsible depending on the evidence offered by each plaintiff as well as the results of an 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.