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Personal injury cases are as personal as anything can be as personal injury encompasses physical and emotional damages suffered as a result of someone else’s negligence or carelessness. Imagine you are living your life one day at a time, following all rules and regulations and taking special care to avoid trouble or injury. Then, boom, you get injured just because someone was over speeding or driving under influence. And your entire life suddenly changes overnight…and most likely not for the better.
“If you have been hurt by someone else’s negligence or wrongful conduct, you deserve to be fairly compensated for your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more. However, in order to succeed, you will need to provide evidence of your injuries and losses and prove that the alleged wrongdoer is responsible for them,” says an experienced premises liability lawyer at SteinLaw Firm.
As a regular citizen, it’s important you educate yourself on the different types of personal injury cases. Your education should also include how you can get compensation should you ever suffer injury due to someone else’s negligence. No one wants to be involved in any type of accident, but the truth is that accidents are a common theme of human experience.
This article aims to improve your legal knowledge and familiarize you with personal injury cases. Continue reading to learn more.
Negligence, the Basis of Every Personal Injury Case
The common element of every personal injury case is negligence and the first step towards any successful civil claim is to understand negligence and prove it. In its simplest form, negligence can be defined as breach of duty or responsibility which then results in someone being injured.
There are four elements of negligence that have to be established in every personal injury case and they include duty, breach, causation, and damages. Duty means the claimant or injured party) must establish that the alleged guilty party, referred to as the defendant, owed them a duty of care.
Breach refers to how the defendant deviated or violated the legal duty of care owed to the plaintiff. This could be to the plaintiff not acting in a certain way or failing to do what is reasonably expected of them.
Causation means the plaintiff must establish that damages suffered (physical or emotion) is directly related to the defendant’s breach of duty. Without this, legal blame can’t be assigned to the defendant.
Damages refers to the injury suffered as a result of the actions of the defendant. Usually, personal injury lawyers seek compensation for emotional injury/trauma, pain, lost income, medical bills, and lost quality of life.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents are easily among the most common types of personal injury cases, and they include the following:
- Auto accidents which involve cars are arguably the most common type of personal injury cases.
- Motorcycle accidents which involve more trauma and are more likely to cause death.
- Trucking accidents present enormous risks to other road users and can result in catastrophic injuries.
- Pedestrian accidents are common in many urban areas and sound legal advice and representation is needed to get justice.
The leading causes of motor vehicle accidents include distracted driving, aggressive driving, driving under the influence, weather, wrong-way driving, and so on. The party at fault can be held responsible for any damages suffered, although the plaintiff will need to present strong evidence of the injury such as police reports and medical documentation.
Product Liability
One of the more unique types of personal injury cases, product liability claims occur when you suffer injury due to a defective consumer product. It doesn’t matter who bought the product, the fact that someone got injured by the product is enough for a product liability claim. However, to be successful, the injured party must be able to prove that the injury suffered was due to the defective product.
There are three types of defects, and these are manufacturing defect, design defect, breach of warranty, and marketing defect which occurs when the public aren’t sufficiently warned of the potential dangers of using the product.
Premises Liability
Every property owner has the legal responsibility of making their property safe for visitors and people performing legal duties on the property such as mail carriers. The extent of responsibility mentioned above may vary from State to State.
If you suffer injury on a public establishment or even a private property due to dangerous conditions – say a broken stair, slippery surface due to spills, and so on – the owners should know about or could have known about if only they’ve done a simple and reasonable inspection of their premises, you have the basis for a civil claim.
Most premises liability cases involve slip and fall accidents, negligent/inadequate security, elevator accidents, swimming pool accidents, and so on.
Workplace Injuries
Employers have the legal responsibility to provide a safe working environment free from hazards to their workers. From providing appropriate training to providing proper safety equipment, informing employees of potential hazards, and so on, employers must do everything in their power to make the workplace as safe as possible.
However, many workers have suffered injuries due to negligence of their employers. Depending on the type of occupation and extent of negligence of the employers, injuries suffered could be catastrophic. If you are injured because your employer failed to provide a safe working environment, you can always claim compensation for your suffering.
