What Is Injury Law?

Injury law is concerned with civil wrongs that could harm your mind, body as well as your feelings. The aim of an injury lawsuit is to secure an amount of money to compensate for damages, such as medical bills and suffering and pain.

It's hard to avoid injuries, but you must take every precaution to protect yourself. For example, if you are likely to fall backwards, turn your head and shield it by your arms.

Negligence

A person who suffers injuries or other losses as a result of an act of negligence by another person may file a lawsuit for negligence and seek financial compensation. But, the plaintiff must prove four things to prove their case: breach of duty, breach of duty, causation and damages.

Negligence is the inability to act in a way that reasonable people would do under similar circumstances. For example, a motorist must adhere to traffic laws to avoid accidents and cause harm to other people on the road. A doctor must treat patients in the same manner that medical professionals with similar training would in similar circumstances. Lawyers can also use expert testimony to demonstrate that the defendant's conduct fell below industry norms.

To win a negligence claim, the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant's breach of duty was a direct cause of their injury. This is known as legal causation. A skilled personal injury lawyer will argue that the defendant's actions could be the sole reason for their injuries.

The plaintiff must prove that their injuries caused real financial losses, such as medical bills and lost income. A more serious form of negligence is gross negligence, which entails an unintentional disregard for others' safety. Gross negligence occurs the case when a nursing home fails to change bandages on patients for a period of time. In some states, defendants are able to use a defense called contributory negligence to stop the plaintiff from claiming damages.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the period of time that you must make a claim if negligence or reckless disregard of your safety causes you harm. The statute of limitations is established by the state legislature to ensure timely filing and avoid unreasonable delays.

The time period for filing a claim differs from state to state and from one 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 your accident to file a claim. However, certain claims could be subject to what's called the discovery rule, meaning that the statute of limitations doesn't begin until the injury has been discovered or should reasonably have been discovered.

In other situations which involve intentional torts such as assaults or false imprisonment, defamation and deliberate infliction or damage to emotional distress, the statute of limitations is longer. A statute of limitations could be exempted or tolled in some cases, such as when a minor is involved or someone is on military duty or in jail.

If you decide to file a lawsuit after the statute of limitation has expired, your case could be dismissed without hearing. This is why it's essential to consult an experienced attorney for injury before the time when the statute of limitations expires.

Damages

Many of the costs associated with an injury come with a price tag. Special damages include medical costs, out-of-pocket costs, lost wages and the cost of fixing or replacing your property, in addition to other fixed amounts. The law does limit the amount you can claim in special damages.

Other losses don't come with an associated price and may be difficult to quantify, including suffering and pain, loss of enjoyment from life, and injury lawsuits other tangible damages. In determining a dollar amount for personal losses such as emotional distress or physical pain can be challenging however, attorneys and insurance companies utilize formulas to determine the value of these losses.

For instance, a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit for whiplash may have suffered serious injuries that have caused a lot of pain and difficulty to their day-to-day lives. They may require assistance with chores around the home, eat differently, and miss out on recreational activities or spending time with family. The victim might experience an absence of enjoyment, and this is recoverable as general damages.

To estimate the value of the claim of general damages, attorneys or insurers usually start by calculating the total of medical special damages. They then add the value of any income loss. They will then multiply that number by a number ranging from 1.5 to 5. More powerful multipliers are typically associated with more serious injuries.

Liability

In law, the term liability is a term used to describe a person who is found liable for an injury or damage. This can be due either to negligence or strict liability. The concept of negligence is the basis for a majority of injury claims. Negligence is the inability to act with reasonable care in the circumstances. Jurors consider what an average person would have done under similar circumstances and determine if the defendant's conduct or inaction violated this standard. Some cases involving injuries are based solely on strict liability. For instance, when a defective product is the cause of injuries.

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

The majority of personal injury lawsuits involve one plaintiff against a number of defendants, however, there are some multi-plaintiff suits like class actions and mass torts. One or more of these plaintiffs could be an entity such as a pharmaceutical company or an insurance company, or it could be an person like you. In these cases, several parties could be held accountable according to the evidence presented by each plaintiff as well as the results of an investigation. Contact us right away if you have been injured by another's negligence or wrongdoing.