Personal Injury Law and Claims - Contact a Lawyer
Personal Injury: What It Is
Personal injury is an area of law designed to protect those harmed by
the negligence, recklessness, malpractice, or inaction of others. Also
called tort law , personal injury law encompasses a full range of legal
claims, from wrongful death, auto accidents, and medical malpractice to
defective drugs, product liability, and workers' compensation Each victim
can file a personal injury claim for physical injury, emotional injury,
and, occasionally, for property damages. Further, in some cases - such
as those involving medical malpractice or wrongful death - the family
of the injured or deceased can file suit on behalf of its loved one.
Those who file personal injury claims may be eligible to receive damages, namely financial compensation for their loss of income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent disability, and other resulting injuries. If you are considering filing a personal injury claim, you are encouraged to obtain legal advice from personal injury attorneys in your area.
Understanding Personal Injury Law: Establishing Your Claim
First, realize that if you can demonstrate that 1) the person charged
truly bears legal responsibility for your personal injury and 2) that
the damages claimed truly reflect the extent of the injury or loss, you
may have a personal injury case. Every personal injury case must address
these two crucial elements, called liability and damages. These elements,
depending on your state, may be established on one of three bases : negligence,
strict liability, and intentional wrong. Personal injury attorneys are
equipped to explain these bases to you.
Negligence
If you file your personal injury case as a tort of negligence , you accuse
the defendant of causing your injury by failing to prevent it. For example,
if a grocery store owner does not properly label a wet floor and you subsequently
fall and injure your back, the storeowner may be deemed negligent for
failing to properly follow safety regulations. Personal injury attorneys
are equipped to handle such claims.
Punitive and Compensatory Damages
If you have been the victim of personal injury you may be entitled to
damages. Awarded in civil actions, personal injury damages are monies
allotted to those who have been wrongfully injured by someone else. Damages
are intended to help the restore the victim physically, emotionally, mentally,
and financially. The two main types of personal injury damages are compensatory
damages and punitive damages. A personal injury lawyer can explain these
to you in detail, but here is a brief description:
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages cover all financial expenses and all ailments associated
with personal injury, including:
Loss of wages
Emotional distress
Pain and suffering (such as grief, fright, anxiety, humiliation, and depression)
Permanent disability
Mental impairment
Earning capacity impairment
Loss of profits
Medical bills
Interest due from money withheld
Repair or replacement of property
Compensatory damages are also called actual damages.
Punitive Damages
Often called exemplary damages, punitive damages are typically awarded
to the plaintiff in addition to compensatory damages when the defendant's
conduct has been especially malicious or oppressive. Punitive damages
are awarded punish the offender and to deter others from engaging in similar
actions.
How Much You Can Receive in Personal Injury Damages
Personal injury damages are determined on an individual, case-by-case
basis. The amount is decided by the jury but can be reviewed by the court.
If a judge feels that the amount of damages is excessive, he or she can
order remittitur, a process in which the punitive damages are reduced
without a new trial or appeal. If a judge feels that the amount of damages
is inadequate, he or she can order additur, whereby punitive damages are
increased without a new trial or appeal.
To find out more your personal injury case and what damages and settlement you are rightfully entitled to, find and ask a personal injury lawyer in your area.
Defective Products and Product Liability Cases
Defective products, ranging from malfunctioning hot water heaters to faulty
child restraints, cause more than 29.5 million injuries and close to 22,000
deaths in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission (CPSC). If you are one of these victims, read
on to find out how product liability attorney and/or filing a product
liability lawsuit can help you win the compensation to which you are rightfully
entitled.
What Products Qualify as Defective
Any manufactured product can be defective, whether it is a breast implant,
a joint replacement, a child’s toy, a brake pad, a tobacco product,
or a hair dryer. This doesn’t mean, however, that all accidents
associated with the product are grounds for personal injury lawsuits.
For example, if you cut yourself with a knife while using it properly,
you do not have case. However, if the knife broke while you were using
it – resulting in a nasty cut – you would then be eligible
to pursue legal action, namely a product liability lawsuit.
If any product is found to be unreasonably dangerous, the appropriate agency works with the manufacturer to institute either a voluntary or mandatory recall. Products are evaluated by the following agencies:
The CPSC is responsible for approximately 15,000 types of consumer products,
from baby strollers to coffee makers.
Department of Transportation handles automobiles and related products.
The FDA covers food, cosmetics, and drugs.
The Department of the Treasury monitors tobacco, alcohol, and firearms
If you have any questions as to whether a defective product is indeed
to blame for your injury, contact a personal injury attorney who specializes
in product liability in your area today. A product liability attorney
can help you review the facts of your case, complete the necessary paperwork,
understand relevant laws, and ultimately, receive the damages you deserve.
What Makes a Product Defective
Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons that defective products may
their way on to our shelves. These include:
Design defects
Design defects, ranging from defective harness systems on child car seats
to hair dryers that dangerously overheat, cause million of injuries annually.
These occur before the product is created, in the initial planning phase.
Oftentimes, manufacturers catch these after products have been distributed
for sale and have to launch a recall. The problem with recalls, however,
is that 1) they often occur too late and 2) for whatever reason, product
owners may never hear of the recall.
If you have been injured as a result of a design defect, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.
Defective Manufacturing
These flaws result from mistakes or problems that take place during the
actual production phase, and they may only affect a few specific items
out of many properly working, safe products. One example of a manufacturing
defect is a rolling office chair whose wheel disengages, causing the person
in the chair to fall and injure her back. Like products with design defects,
products with manufacturing def ects are frequently recalled, albeit too
late, in many cases.
If you have been injured as a result of a design defect, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.
Inadequate Testing
This is all too common when it comes to safety crash testing. Most corporations
test crashworthiness, safety belt effectiveness, and other elements at
only 40 miles per hour and only in front-end crashes, rendering these
tests inconclusive. Yet these standards have yet to be revised. Other
examples include silicone breast implants (long-term effects were not
yet known at the time of FDA-approval), faulty electrical wiring, and
inefficient child restraint systems.
If you have been injured as a result of inadequate product testing, contact a product liability attorney in your area today.
Marketing Misrepresentation
This can include everything from confusing, hard-to-follow instructions
to incomplete warning labels, such as those on prescription drugs. Often,
instructions are written at a 10 th-grade level, while the majority of
consumers read far below that. Simply revising the instructions so that
they match those of newspapers – which are written at a 6 th-grade
level- could prevent thousands of injuries.
If You Have Been Injured by a Defective Product…
If you have been injured by a defective product, we advise you to take
the following steps. These steps can help you build a credible lawsuit
and, ultimately, receive the compensation you rightfully deserve:
Read Up On Product Liability Law
Product liability law gives anyone injured by a defective or unreasonably
dange6rous product the right to sue the person or corporation who manufactured
or marketed it. This includes manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Those who file personal injury lawsuits may receive compensation for medical costs, lost wages, property damages, pain and suffering, and other expenses. If you believe you have been a victim of a defective product, you may want to consider contacting a personal injury attorney for more information .
Also, be sure to preserve the product that injured you, as well as take photos, interview witnesses, and of course, contact a personal injury attorney.
Consult a Personal Injury Attorney E xperienced in Product Liability
Law
A person injury attorney experienced in product liability law/defective
products can help ensure that you understand your rights and that you
receive the compensation you deserve for your injury.
Car/Auto Accidents and Personal Injury
Car accidents are one of the most common sources of personal injury. Most
are minor fender-benders, but a shocking number cause severe injury, permanent
disability, and even death. With these traumas often come pain and suffering,
emotional distress, lost wages, medical expenses, and property damage
- all of which may constitute financial compensation. Sadly, though, many
auto accident victims never receive the full amount of damages to which
they are entitled to for their car accidents. The major reason is that,
because they don't know the full worth of their claims, auto accident
victims accept the first offers that insurance companies make - and it's
no secret that these insurance companies try to get off cheap. That said,
it is crucial to enlist the help of a qualified personal injury lawyer
if you are to be fairly compensated.
A personal injury lawyer can:
Help prove liability by preserving evidence and interviewing witnesses
Ensure you receive the proper medical care
Help you understand the law, including statutes of limitations
Help you document your injuries properly so that you receive full compensation
Ensure that you receive the compensation to which you are rightfully entitled
Further, in cases of malicious intent - such as if a company knowingly
markets tires it knows are defective and these tires subsequently cause
injuries - auto accident victims may be entitled to punitive damages in
addition to compensatory damages. A personal injury attorney can help
determine which damages you are eligible for and can help you build an
effective case.
Will Insurance Cover my Expense Following a Car Accident ?
This depends on the policy you have purchased. Most likely, you have first
party coverage, which insures both you and your property, and third party
coverage, which covers other people and their property involved in car
accidents you cause. Keep in mind, however, that there are many different
types of coverage available, and each type offers its own benefits. For
example, comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle in the event of fire,
theft, vandalism, and acts of nature, while collision coverage covers
your vehicle in the event of an auto accident. Your insurance carrier
or a personal injury lawyer can help you understand the policies you have
and explain what these policies entitle you to.
Regardless of your coverage, your insurance company most certainly requires that you contact one of its representatives immediately following an auto accident. If you don't report an accident to the company in a timely manner, it may try to deny coverage for the accident.
In addition to contacting your insurance company, you should also file a police report if 1) you are injured or 2) if damages to either your vehicle or the other party's exceed a certain amount (be aware that this amount varied from state to state but typically falls between $200 and $500). Also, be sure that any injuries you incurred receive proper follow-up care. A personal injury attorney can inform you of your particular state's laws regarding auto accidents.
No-Fault and At-Fault Laws: How Do These Affect My Case?
Liability laws vary from state to state. About half of all U.S. states
have adopted no-fault liability laws, which make everyone involved in
a car accident responsible for his own damages. However, most of these
states allow exceptions to these laws, namely if a person sustains a serious
personal injury or if property damage exceeds a specific amount. The remaining
half of states has instated at-fault liability laws, which require the
party responsible for the car accident to pay damages for all those involved.
What To Do if You Are in a Car Accident
Before leaving the scene of a car accident - regardless of who is at fault
- it is important to collect the following information. Your personal
injury lawyer will need this data to help build an effective case:
Names and addresses of drivers, driver's license numbers
Names and addresses of passengers
Names, addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses
Names and addresses of registered owners of the vehicles
Names of insurance companies, policy numbers
Location of the car accident
How the car accident occurred
Whether or not any of the drivers seem to be under the influence of drugs
or alcohol?
Injuries
Damages to vehicles
Names of police officers that responded to the scene
Whether or not anyone admitted fault (Do NOT admit fault