Unfortunately, sometimes the actions of other people can cause you harm. If you’ve found yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, someone else’s irresponsibility can affect you in a majorly negative way.
So what can you do to protect yourself, or at least hold them accountable?
That’s right, you can file a Personal Injury Lawsuit. It’s a way for you to get compensation for any harm done to you by someone else. In this article, we will go over everything you need to know about this type of lawsuit.
So let’s begin.
The effects of personal injury
The effects of personal injury can be huge. They can range from financial losses to mental trauma and bodily harm. For example, let’s take the most common type of personal injury: car accidents. An irresponsible driver causes you to suffer through a car crash. Your car is totaled and you’ve suffered some injuries on your body.
Even though you followed every single traffic law there is and drove carefully, you suffered damage because someone else wouldn’t bother to be mindful while driving. Now you have to fix your car, or even buy a new one, depending on the damage. You also have some medical bills to pay, and you might even be unable to work until you recover. After you’ve recovered, you may feel uneasy and stressed out when driving. This seems extremely unfair, doesn’t it?
This is why a Personal Injury lawsuit exists, and why it’s so closely defined by law in the first place. Nobody should have to suffer such huge losses, only because that day someone else decided not to be responsible.
What kind of personal injuries are there?
There are many different types of personal injury, but we’ll go over the most common ones.
- Traffic Accident
We already covered this one when we described the effects a personal injury can have on people. If you experience an injury during a car accident caused by someone else, you are eligible to ask for compensation. You’ll have to collect some documentation to back you up, like a police report from the scene, your medical bills, and some other documents related to insurance.
- Slip and Fall
If you suffer an injury due to an unsafe environment, be it private or public property, you may be able to ask for compensation. The most important thing is to prove that the environment you hurt yourself in was dangerously unsafe and that you had no way of knowing it.
- Medical Malpractice
This type of injury happens when a doctor or any other medical professional takes some negligent or inadequate actions while treating a patient. For this type of case, it’s good to have some expert witnesses at your hand to strengthen your case.
- Workplace injuries
If your employer fails to provide a safe work environment and you end up hurting yourself, you may be able to seek compensation. Just like a normal slip and fall injury, it’s important to have proof that your injury was directly caused by your employer’s inability to provide you with the necessary protection.
- Defective products
If you hurt yourself using a defective product, and the product is not deemed to be “unavoidably hazardous”, then you will be able to seek compensation for your injuries.
Of course, there are many other types of injuries you can file a lawsuit for. The success of your lawsuit will depend on your state laws and the specifics of your case. For example, if you are from the Texas area, you can fill a free form at TheLawCenter that will connect you to a real Houston Personal Injury Attorney who can help you find out more about how the law applies to your personal case.
Accident or negligence?
This is the most important factor when it comes to the success of your lawsuit. Accidents can occur sometimes even though people do everything in their power to prevent them. Nobody can be responsible for an accident, and if you suffered injuries due to an accident, you have no ground to file a lawsuit on.
Negligence, on the other hand, is a completely different thing. If you can prove that someone had all the means to protect you and prevent the situation in question from happening, then your lawsuit has a great chance of succeeding.
We all have a mutual responsibility to protect others from ourselves. If there is a possibility of somebody getting hurt, we need to take action to prevent that from happening.
Out of court settlement or a going on a trial?
When it comes to personal injury lawsuits, you can decide to settle outside of court or let the judge decide the compensation for your injuries. The most important thing is to consult your lawyer, and never sign anything without hearing their advice first. Generally speaking, going on a trial can bring you higher compensation that a settlement can.
You should know that a personal injury case can be pretty long, so you’ll need to be armed with a lot of patience. Finding a good lawyer can make this process much simpler and quicker. A good lawyer will try to get you the best possible outcome but will be transparent and upfront when telling you about potential issues that could negatively impact your case.
Another thing to know is that there is a certain timeframe in which you can file a lawsuit after the injury happened. The length of this timeframe mostly depends on your state laws and regulations, but it’s usually about 2-3 years.
The takeaway
If you ever get injured or hurt by other people, a personal injury lawsuit is the best way to hold them responsible for their actions.
The best way to ensure your lawsuit is successful is to consult a Personal Injury Attorney. These lawyers can help you get the best possible outcome, and they will let you know exactly what your chances of succeeding are. You can choose to settle outside the court or to go for a trial.
All in all, you should always be aware of the possibility of filing a personal injury lawsuit, as it could help you minimize the expenses that someone else brought into your life.
Nicola Holder