Personal injury lawyers represent clients in cases where they’ve suffered some type of injury as a result of the careless behavior of another party.
These injuries can and likely do impact a person’s ability to earn and function normally, without any physical or emotional pain. They affect not just individuals but families and result in high costs.
A personal injury attorney’s job is to assess a personal injury case and build it in a way that obtains you – their client – a fair compensation and a sense of justice in these tough times.
Let’s take a look at the types of cases personal injury lawyers deal with:
Vehicle accidents
According to the World Health Organization, around 1.3 million people suffer fatal injuries as a result of motor vehicle accidents. That involves accidents with cars, motorcycles, bicycles and trucks.
Reasons for these accidents are different, ranging from speeding or running a red light to failing to turn on headlights or stop for a pedestrian.
If the negligence of a driver, pedestrian or passenger has led to you suffering one or more injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for those injuries. Just make sure that you take any pictures of the crash scene and identify witnesses if there are any.
Your lawyer will be able to build a stronger case if you can provide them with this sort of evidence – and trust us, you’ll need one once the insurance companies start hounding you.
Medical malpractice
If your hospital, a doctor or another health care provider has caused you an injury due to errors in diagnosis or treatment, you may be able to seek damages. This also includes errors in surgical and rehabilitation procedures, as well as errors in prescriptions and aftercare.
These types of cases may sometimes require aggressive legal actions due to suing highly authoritative organizations such as hospitals, so you’ll want to be equipped with the best possible personal injury lawyer.
They also typically require several expert witnesses, such as other medical experts that are willing to provide an objective testimony. Getting one medical professional to testify against another is a risky and expensive feat, so buckle up!
Premises liability
Anyone who owns a property should know that they’re responsible for the injuries that visitors experience on those properties. If the conditions of a property are unsafe and a visitor gets hurt due to those dangerous conditions, the owner may be liable for those injuries.
In other words, if you’ve slipped on someone’s wet floors or fallen from their unsafe rooftops, you may be able to hold the owner of the property accountable.
Premises liability also applies to situations like:
- swimming pool accidents
- injuries due to exposure to toxic chemicals
- poisoning-induced injuries
- accidents due to faulty wiring or other inadequate maintenance of the property
- injuries from being bitten by a neighbor’s dog, and so on.
Make sure to document the dangerous conditions or defective products as soon as possible and ask your attorney about who may be responsible for your injuries.
Product liability
While we’re on the topic of defective products, you as a consumer are protected from unsafe products. If using a product causes you injuries, you may be able to sue the designer, manufacturer or the seller of such products.
Whether it is your kid that got injured due to a poorly functioning toy or if you got injured by a defective medical tool, you’re likely going to be suing a large corporation in these cases.
This means that you may be able to seek a higher monetary compensation, but that you’re also going to be against corporate sharks and their attorneys.
Keep in mind that roving that these parties failed to warn you about the defects, that they were negligent or in violation of laws that protect you as a consumer won’t be an easy task.
For that reason, you want to be as informed as possible and have the most experienced personal injury attorneys on your side. Learn more about product liability and other personal injury cases, as well as their statistics and probable monetary compensations.
Workplace injuries
If you’ve experienced an injury at your workplace, you may have the right to seek an array of damages, including those for your medical treatments, lost wages, suffering, pain and many more.
These injuries may be a result of working in dangerous or contaminated premises or with heavy or defective equipment. They can also be worth a lot, so you want to be properly informed about the full extent of your rights.
The workers’ compensation system holds your employer liable for covering these costs, but the way this system works depends on the state regulations.
Unfortunately, a layperson is unlikely to understand all of the challenges of this system without professional assistance, so you may take that into consideration when deciding whether you want to file a claim on your own or with the help of a personal injury attorney.
Last but not least, even if your employer does not have this kind of insurance, an attorney – if you have one – can present you with other options that you may have at your disposal.
Wrongful death
If you’ve lost a loved one due to them suffering injuries as a result of someone’s careless behavior, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Wrongful deaths can occur out of any of the previous types of accidents, but these types of lawsuits allow you to seek damages that are different than the ones available for non-fatal injuries.
This includes the medical costs of treating your loved one, their funeral costs and benefits. These damages also include compensation for the pain and suffering, as well as the loss of companionship and security if you’ve been financially dependent on your loved one.
To note
If you’ve suffered a personal injury and believe you have the right to seek compensation, time is of the essence. In most states, filing a claim has to be done within a certain time frame, so seeking legal advice as soon as possible is imperative.
A personal injury attorney will be able to tell you who to sue and seek damages from. They’ll also be able to tell you what your case is worth. Good luck!
