Personal injury law encompasses any harm suffered to one’s body, mind or emotions due to the negligence or intentional actions of another person or party. Pursuing legal action on this basis to seek compensation for medical bills, lost income and any other damages sustained is common practice.
Prove causation first by showing that any injuries wouldn’t have taken place without defendant actions.
Negligence
When someone suffers physical or psychological injury due to negligence on behalf of another individual, business, corporation, or government agency, they may pursue compensation through personal injury law. Personal Injury law offers a framework for dealing with these claims.
A personal injury plaintiff must prove that a defendant breached their duty to act reasonably in a given circumstance and demonstrate how this caused direct injury to themselves or a third party.
Plaintiffs must also demonstrate that a breach caused pecuniary losses from its breach, such as medical bills, lost income, property damage and other quantifiable expenses. Non-pecuniary loss may include suffering and diminished quality of life that are more difficult to quantify; some states apply contributory negligence while others use comparative fault.
Damages
Personal injury law (or tort law) operates under the principle that injured parties should be made whole again after experiencing injury. To achieve this goal, courts award compensatory damages, designed to restore injured parties back into their prior financial state prior to an incident occurring.
Economic damages cover costs such as medical bills, lost earnings and property damage – as well as potential future earnings potential lost if an injury has left you incapable of returning to work or with decreased productivity.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are more difficult to quantify and typically consist of pain and suffering, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life. An experienced personal injury attorney understands how to collect evidence necessary for proving these losses such as medical records or psychological reports.
Litigation
Personal injury law offers victims legal representation during litigation. This may involve negotiations with at-fault parties and/or their insurers, filing suit when necessary or advocating for clients in court when a fair settlement cannot be achieved through negotiations.
Personal injury lawsuits require your attorney to collect evidence and interview witnesses to provide a detailed account of what transpired and your damages; such as medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. Based on this evidence presented at trial, courts will award reasonable compensation; some states set limits as part of what’s known as damage caps – in such cases your lawyer can help build your case accordingly.
Settlements
Personal Injury Law (also referred to as tort law) encompasses any harm done to one’s body or emotions by intentional or negligent acts of another person or party. Williamson, Clune & Stevens of Syracuse is here to assist those injured and can review your situation and identify who might be held liable.
Settlements often cover medical expenses (both current and future), lost wages, pain and suffering damages and property damage. Furthermore, victims can recover punitive damages in cases involving particularly outrageous behavior by the defendant. Your lawyer can review various options for lump sum or structured settlements as well as discuss all the factors that go into calculating them; in addition to helping determine your claim’s value and negotiate any liens or attorney fees associated with it.
Trial
Personal injury law permits victims of physical, emotional or reputational harm to bring civil lawsuits against third parties for compensation of any resulting harms to their bodies, emotions or reputations caused by another party’s negligence or intent, including financial losses incurred as a result of this injury.
Though most personal injury claims settle prior to trial, if this does not occur both parties will present their cases before a judge and jury for consideration of liability and compensation awards. The plaintiff’s attorney will work on collecting evidence such as medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering claims; investigating accidents reports, witness statements, medical records or documents from employers as part of this effort.
