What does the Term Personal Injury Refer to
The term ‘personal injury, in legal terms, refers to physical, mental, emotional, and/or financial harm or ‘damages’ inflicted upon a ‘victim’ (a ‘plaintiff’ in a personal injury case or claim). Further, a personal injury ‘claim’ is considered to be legally warranted when the injury is caused by: personal injury lawyers
* Carelessness
* Recklessness
* Negligence
* Intentional Harm of Another Person, Company, or Entity
We call ourselves personal injury attorneys, interchangeably with accident lawyers, or accident attorneys, and what that means is that we represent clients who have been injured as a result of another party’s negligence. Sometimes that other party is a person, such as another driver in a car accident, and sometimes the other party is a corporation, such as a store owner in a slip and fall case. Regardless of who the other party is, our goal is to get fair compensation for our clients.
Generally, the damages recoverable in a personal injury claim include the client’s medical bills, even if they’ve been paid by group health insurance, any lost wages that we can prove are doctor-excused, and an amount of what we call “pain and suffering”. We can also recover for any future disability or impairment, as well as the cost of future projected medical expenses. ‘Pain and suffering is one of those terms that is used in the legal profession that does not lend itself to any exact calculation. Basically, the goal is to compensate the injured person in an amount of money that will make him whole, that will pay him for the aggravation, discomfort, and inconvenience that the injury has caused him to suffer.
Personal Injury Cases -Insurance Companies and ‘Adjusters’
Typically, the claim is presented to the insurance company for the other party. They have trained professionals to handle the claim, known as insurance adjusters, so it is highly advisable for the client to have legal representation. If you were to try to handle the claim on your own against these highly trained professionals on the other side, you would probably live to regret it. There are several reasons why hiring an accident attorney is in your best interest.
Personal Injury Laws and ‘Establishing Negligence’
In order to recover anything from the other party or their insurance company, you must establish that the other party was at fault for your injury. Part of what we do as personal injury attorneys perform an investigation to determine who was responsible for your injury, hopefully, the other party. Assuming we can establish liability, most personal injury cases settle out of court, but a certain number of them go to trial, which is something our firm has experience in handling. You want to make sure that whatever personal injury attorney you choose has actual experience in the courtroom, even though most of the time a jury trial is not necessary. Accident injury attorneys
Types of Personal Injuries
Personal injuries include physical injuries which can range from very slight to life-threatening or even fatal. Depending on various factors, the ‘victim’ of negligence may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit or claim to pursue the recovery of damages.
Types of personal injuries for which you may seek recovery include physical injuries such as:
back and neck injuries;
Brain injuries;
Disability;
On the job injury (worker’s compensation);
Loss of wages or benefits;
Prescription errors;
Spinal cord injury;
Slip and fall;
and wrongful death.
Recovering Compensation for Your Losses
When a personal injury occurs it is not just the hospital and doctor bills that can be a burden. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastation caused by injuries and will work to recover financial compensation for damages including:
* Medical/ doctor bills
* Funeral bills
* Loss of salary
* Loss of ability to work
* Pain and suffering
* Mental anguish
* Long-term treatment programs
* Loss of ability to engage in normal life activities
* Loss of consortium
To learn about the types of physical injuries you can receive compensation for, go to our physical injuries page, or click one of the categories on the left for more info.