personal injury lawyer
Personal injury cases are legal disputes that arise when a person suffers harm from an accident or injury, and someone else might be legally responsible for that harm. These cases typically involve the legal concept of negligence and can result from a wide variety of incidents, including car accidents, slip and fall incidents, medical malpractice, defective products, and workplace accidents, among others.
Negligence
Negligence is at the core of most personal injury cases. To establish negligence, the injured person (the “plaintiff”) must demonstrate that the person believed to be at fault (the “defendant”) owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, that the defendant breached that duty, that the breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury, and that the injury resulted in damages.
Duty of Care
Duty of care refers to the responsibility one party has to avoid causing harm to another. For instance, a driver has a duty of care to operate their vehicle safely and not put other drivers at risk. A breach occurs when one person violates their duty of care by acting or failing to act in a certain way. Direct and proximate cause means that the injuries sustained must be directly attributable to the defendant’s breach of duty, not some other event or act. Lastly, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they have suffered damages – this could be physical, emotional, or financial harm.
Beginning a Case
A personal injury case begins with the plaintiff filing a complaint against the defendant. This document states the allegations and what the plaintiff seeks in damages. The defendant then has a certain amount of time to respond. After the complaint and answer are filed, the discovery process begins, where both parties gather evidence to support their claims. Many personal injury cases are resolved before they reach the trial stage through settlement negotiations. Here, both parties, usually through their attorneys, agree on a certain amount of compensation that the defendant will pay to the plaintiff, avoiding the need for a trial.
However, if a settlement cannot be reached, the case will proceed to trial, where a judge or jury will decide the outcome based on the evidence presented. The plaintiff has the burden of proof and must convince the judge or jury that their claims are valid.
Damages
Damages in personal injury cases can be compensatory, intended to compensate the injured plaintiff for the harm caused by the defendant, or punitive, designed to punish the defendant for particularly egregious behavior. Compensatory damages can be further divided into economic damages, such as medical expenses and loss of earnings, and non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
Legal Help
Personal injury law is complex, and navigating a personal injury case can be challenging. Therefore, having a competent and experienced personal injury lawyer
from a firm like Ward & Ward Law Firm can be crucial in helping plaintiffs understand their rights, gathering and presenting evidence, negotiating with the defense, and advocating for the plaintiff in court.
Personal injury cases involve the legal principle of negligence and can arise from various incidents. While they can be complex and time-consuming, these cases provide an avenue for injured individuals to seek compensation for the harm they have suffered due to someone else’s negligent actions.