Are You the Victim of an Accident That Wasn’t Your Fault and Suffering Damages Like Lost Wages, Medical Costs and Physical Agony? If this describes your experience then read on! In such a situation it becomes time-consuming and exhausting quickly – this is when personal injury attorneys come in handy; here is what to know:
What Is A Personal Injury Lawyer?
A personal injury lawyer is an advocate in law who focuses on rendering legal services and assistance to the people who have been harmed by the carelessness or malicious conduct of others. Such injuries can occur through an accident, medical negligence, at the workplace, or in any situation where one has been harmed.
Other areas of assistance that the personal injury lawyers assist the clients in seeking compensation include; Medical expenses that have been incurred as a result of the injury Loss wages due to being unable to work as a result of the injury
Any other suffering that was as a result of the injury. They settle issues involving insurance companies, file for claims, and act as lawyers if the situation deems it necessary. Their aim is to see to it that their clients get the right compensation for the injuries sustained and other losses incurred.
Types of Personal Injury
Personal injury cases can arise from various incidents. Here are some common types of personal injury:
Car Accidents
Road accidents are one of the primary sources of personal injury claims. If the driver at fault was speeding, distracted, or under the influence of alcohol, his or her injured passengers can file personal injury suits to recover lost wages, medical expenses, pain & suffering damages and property damages from these car crashes. Negligence claims for car accidents focus on whether someone was careless with regards to operating their vehicle and can provide compensation in addition to property damages for such cases.
Medical Malpractice
Malpractice occurs when any healthcare professional – be they physicians, registered nurses, surgeons, clinics or any other facility providing healthcare – provides treatment that was negligent enough to cause harm to a patient – be that errors committed during surgeries, incorrect diagnoses and treatments methods used, or failing to identify critical illnesses early.
Workplace Injuries
Employment accidents can occur due to hazardous working conditions, absence or inadequate tools, and employer recklessness. Some of them are slip and fall incidents or contact with chemicals and other physical agents, overuse syndromes, and accidents involving tools and machinery. In most cases, worker’s compensation laws address workplace injuries, but if another party, including a contractor contributed to the injury, the injured party can file for a personal injury claim or if the employer’s negligence was considerable.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip-and-fall injuries refer to instances in which someone gets hurt as the result of obstructions on another’s floor or premises. This might include slippery surfaces such as wet floors, halls with poor lighting, inclines or declines possibly icy sidewalks. It is the law that the owners of properties ensure that the areas accessible to the public are safe. Owners who ignores risk factors or provides insufficient warnings could be held legally responsible for injuries suffered as a result. Slip and fall claims fall under premises liability where injured claimants need to prove that the owner was to blame in creating conditions which led to their fall.
Product Liability
Product liability lawsuits arise when consumers of a product suffer any harm through its use, and can be brought against manufacturers, distributors and retailers who distributed hazardous and defective commodities into the community.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death suits may be filed by survivors and estates of deceased due to negligence on behalf of defendants, such as car accidents, medical malpractice claims, work related injuries caused by defective products manufactured with defects etc.
Families grieving may look forward to compensation of funeral costs, lost earnings and pain and suffering claims similar to personal injury lawsuits; however, damages paid out will instead go directly to them instead of those injured parties themselves.
Auto, Truck and Motorcycle Collisions
It should be considered that, beyond doubt, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of severe personal injury cases. Some of them are driven by dangerously distracted driving.
Some occur through drunk driving, tired lorry drivers, reckless motor cyclists without helmets, speeding, improper lane changing or turning, and other acts of carelessness on our roads and freeways. There are several types of accidents personal injury lawyers deal with, but some of the most numerous collisions include
Rear-End Collisions
Among all the types of car accidents which are most commonly represented in personal injury cases, the most common type is the rear-end collision. These usually occur in instances where the caused driver does not manage to apply the brakes before ramming into the rear of another car that is stationary waiting for a breakthrough, or during a red light.
Head-On Collision Injury Cases
There are also head-on collisions, which are another significant type of accident that personal injury attorneys assist with frequently. These frontal impacts can also be caused by a motorist drifting over middle line and pulls into the oncoming lane, an attempt to overtake around the curve or over the crest of a hill, driving on the wrong side of the highway or any other unprofessional techniques puts one’s vehicle in front of another.
Impact force from an accident may produce serious injuries such as collapsed lungs, internal injuries, spinal injuries, head traumas, paralysis and burns; severe burns; paralysis as a result of paralysis may even result. Litigation pursued against those responsible and seeks restitution through uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to redress losses suffered during an incident.
Rollover Crashes
Evaluating crash scene statistics, rollover accidents are reported to happen much rarer in comparison with other types of crashes. And they are responsible f or nearly 35% of all vehicle occupant fatalities each year. With large and heavy frames at the top, products such as SUVs and trucks are more prone to rollovers. These particularly violent crashes also occur frequently due to slippery roadway surfaces; unsafe turns or lane changing at high speed; sideswipe with a guardrail or other obstacle; steep slopes; and median crossovers leading to a flip.
Moreover, the victims are likely to get deep limb loss, spinal cord injuries, head and vital organ injuries and many others. Qualified personal injury attorneys ensure that they obtain fair compensation on behalf of their clients in such cases.
Hit-and-Run Injuries
Another top example a personal injury lawyers are forced to take on as a result of carelessness of drivers who remove themselves from the scene of the accident without taking the time to help the injured or as provided by the laws of their country exchange details.
That leaves innocent injury victims helpless and struggling with overwhelming losses solely because of circumstances beyond their control. If the at-fault driver does not have insurance, the victims seek uninsured motorist protection, med pay, work comp IF driving at the time of the hit and run and anything else possible. An experienced personal injury lawyer equally undertakes a rigorous process in analyzing these complicated cases to obtain concrete evidence even in the absence of the fleeing driver.
Premises Liability Cases
Business people and homeowners have legal responsibilities to ensure that their property is safe for patrons such as customers, clients, guests, delivery personnel, and workers. In situations where their negligence causes dangerous situations on premises, the hurt victims are entitled to sue them through a premises liability lawsuit.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Injury Lawsuits
Some of the obscured hazards that personal injury lawyers come across in premises liability cases consistently include wet floors, the condition of having cracked or uneven sideway/step, poor illumination, accumulation of clutter, absence of handrails and guardrails in staircases, and leaving doors open to hazardous areas.
Inadequate Security & Violent Crimes
Similarly, personal injury attorneys assist individuals who have been attacked during muggings, rapes, assaults, amongst other acts of violence, to file for compensation if the property in which they live is insecure. Inadequate exterior lighting, non-functioning access control devices, absence of security patrols and guards, high weeds, and other similar conditions help criminals select prey in or near negligence properties. It compensates victims for their medical expenses, therapy for emotional mutilation, wages lost when one cannot work, and many other items.
Swimming Pool & Water Park Accidents
Failure to provide fencing with self-closing access gates, absence of anti-entrapment drain covers, no adequate lighting after business hours, lack of posted rules and monitors, poor chemical maintenance, and other hazards contribute to legal liability when they cause harm within business premises. Swimming pool and water park accidents are often handled by personal injury lawyers who represent the victims.
Dog Bite Injury Cases
Dog attacks result in thousands of people being hospitalized every year, mostly children who are frail or of tender age. For instance, if a dangerous dog has not been properly secured, placed with sufficient warning such as a ‘beware of the dog’ sign, restrained, or trained, or supervised, owners can be held responsible for bite injuries they let precipitate through their recklessness.
In some aggressive dog attacks, victims claim severe injury and tissue damage, excessive scarring and surgeries, psychological injuries, infections and organ damage, broken bones and blood loss among other afflictions which are handled by personal injury attorneys. Legal statutes draw clear lines of accountability as to exactly who is legally allowed to own dog breeds that are considered inherently dangerous.
Job & Workplace Related Injuries
Every year, millions of employees get injured at their workplace across the United States even though the federal laws mandate employers to ensure employees safety at their workplace. The main causes of these workplace mishaps include construction mishaps, transport crashes, equipment malfunction, confined space risks, falls, trench collapses, blasts and burns, repetitive injuries, inadequate training for risky tasks, and the like that occur recurrently. Below are some of the typical work accident cases that the personal injury lawyers can help with.
Construction & Industrial Accidents
With almost thousand workers dying every year, construction of buildings remains one of the most hazardous professions in the country. For example, falling from roofs, falling off scaffolding, electrocution, heavy equipment accidents, being crushed, and being hit by moving loads are chief risks which result in severe and fatal injuries occasionally due to negligence of general contractors and project owners in providing reasonable protection to workers. Personal injury law is a very important aspect of the law because it opens up avenues through which the affected workers and their families can seek justice in the aftermath.
Transportation & Trucking Accidents
The U.S Department of labor records show that transportation events the most frequent report of fatalities in workplaces. Accidents with large trucks, company fleet cars, hazardous roads, jackknifing, shifting loads, rollovers, carelessness in fleet maintenance, and other usual hazards bring these high injury rates.
Pursuing personal injury that involves recovering from medical expenses, full compensation for disability, or wrongful death always calls for compliance with the laws governing the trucking industry, maintenance records that may reveal signs of negligence or reckless driving, and correct documentation of the scene. This is where some of the best personal injury lawyers who have vast experience in handling cases involving commercial vehicles come in handy.
Offshore Oil Platform Injuries
The category that may hardly be categorized as simple and having relatively low rates of occurrence is the one that involves oil rigs and offshore platforms.
Forced rotations, equipment malfunctions and defects, confined spaces, health risks from extreme temperatures or exposure to toxic substances, inadequate training provided to new employees, lack of adequate maintenance, failures of large and heavy machinery, and other dangers create these hazardous work conditions. Head and spinal trauma, burn injuries, lost limbs, drowning deaths, pulmonary damage as well as long-term disability when rig operators are negligent at sea require high compensations.
Explosions & Chemical Exposure Cases
Explosions and toxic chemical releases, which are also easily avoidable, result in severe injuries in industrial workplaces frequently. Accidents occur due to electrical problems, mishandling of tools and equipment, and threats within any confined space, lack of appropriate protection against abrasive materials, as well as holding employers fully liable helps ensure just compensation for the pain, medical bills, and loss of income in the wake of these horrible workplace disasters that could have been prevented by employer negligence.
Other Common Personal Injury Cases
Apart from workplace related accidents and unsafe premises conditions, the personal injury attorneys help the victims in numerous other situations of negligence and suffering as well Other prominent categories of personal injury cases include:
Defective & Dangerous Products
Whenever an element of design, a production line imperfection, or a lack of safety measures leads to someone getting hurt, the brands and the retailers of the products are at fault. Some risks associated with some everyday products include; failed air bags during an accident, complicated surgeries using surgical mesh, failing hip and knee replacements which require relapses, dangerous drugs with side effects such as internal bleeding, tipping furniture with unstable bases and many more.
Proper legal services ensure that blame is forwarded where it is due – towards the careless persons who contributed to the production and sale of dangerous goods to the public. Accident legal professionals who specialize in dealing with cases related to products that are deemed to be hazardous manage cases that relate to damaged product regulations, manufacturing protocols, quality control measures, warning labels review and extensive investigation to create viable claims.
Medical Malpractice Cases
Every day, doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, therapists, clinics, hospitals, pharmacists, and many other professionals providing healthcare services make minor errors.
However, some errors go catastrophic where negligence, inferior health care, negation of duty, malpractice, anesthesia complications, unsanitary practices, wrong dosage, or neglect cause a disabling ailment, lasting disability, or wrongful death that a standard medical practice could have prevented.
Of course, victims really deserve justice and compensation when they experience massive care requirements, lost time from work, and increasing expenses after an act of medical negligence alters their lives. Experienced personal injury attorneys handle these detailed and sophisticated claims involving cumbersome medical documents review, persuadable medical witnesses capable of expounding on the overarching standard of care that was violated and how the client’s records depict the failure, assessing therapies and services that the patient requires now, and reasonable seeking of compensation that will assist the client in healing and moving to the next phase of her life.
Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect
As the American population seems to be aging, more of the seniors require the services of skilled nursing facilities and long-term care centers due to escalating health needs. However, overly staff shortage, refusal to help with essential tasks such as feeding, bathing, or even assistance to the washroom, administration of medications, untreated pressure ulcers and infections, absence of fall prevention measures, wandering residents left unattended, and other forms of neglect lead to deterioration and death yearly.
It is properly unbecoming that ageing family members who are in vulnerable positions should be subjected to anything less than the highest standards of human dignity and compassionate care. Responsibility for abuse, neglect, and exploitation that were preventable showcases much-needed funding for other residencies and higher care levels that victims need after previous living arrangements’ failures.
Wrongful Death Claims
No one ever gets over losing a close family member, particularly if it happens due to a preventable act like a drunk driving accident, a medical malpractice, an occupational mishap, a nursing home abuse case, or any other personal injury occurrence that should not have occurred. There is nothing that can effectively console families after such unnecessary loss through accidents.
However, making negligent parties fully responsible for wrongful death through an exclusive identification means necessary funds are available for funeral expenses, grief-counselling, and financial security for spouses, children and other dependents who lose vital earnings as well.
Personal injury lawyers, who specialize in personal injury, encounter numerous wrongful death cases every year, helping families find compensation and closure.
And So Much More…
Other types are cases where workers develop cancer from exposure to hazardous chemicals at the workplace, respiratory illnesses from inhaling asbestos or silica dust, burns and scarring from flammable substances, customers who get food poisoning from tainted restaurant food, pedestrians knocked down by vehicles that have right of way at crossroads, people who get injured on poorly maintained public transport, persons who gets harmed on commercial premises such as stores by falling debris or through violent physical security.
The only commonality running through this broad, diverse, and contentious domain of legal claims – ordinary people struggling with rising expenses, missed chances, injuries, and diminished quality of life that they should not have experienced if others had acted reasonably responsibly. Most areas of law have the potential for the less fortunate to request some form of redress from those who have wronged them except for personal injury law.
FAQs
What Type of Law Is Personal Injury?
Personal injury law is a branch of the legal system called the law of torts which deals with wrongs that results in harm to an individual. Since tort law is the law of civil wrongs, it permits the injured party to recover their losses or damages from the perpetrator. Most of the time tort law aims at compensating the injured person as well as discouraging other people to engage in the unlawful conduct.
Litigation in personal injuries is more of civil matters than being criminal cases. The aim is to compensate the injured party while punitive damages are allowed where negligence was gross or there was a criminal act.
What Is the Field of Personal Injury Law?
Personal injury law comprises legal proceedings that are associated with the recovery of damages for a person who has been injured or harmed by the actions of another person or entity. Civility – Personal injury law encompasses a broad spectrum of situations including traffic accidents, product liability and includes the aspects of settlement as well as trial.
Attorneys in this line of duty try to make sure that anyone harmed by the actions of another party or entity receives adequate compensation for every aspect of the accident including, but not limited to, medicaments fees, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Personal injury law involves knowledge of principles of the legal system such as tort law, insurance law, and statutes regarding time limits on cases.
Personal injury law also requires the lawyer to be well-acquainted with the laws and restrictions applicable to various categories of injury claims, including workers comp for work-related injuries or the production guidelines relevant to product liability in product defect cases.
Contact Us
Daunting legal processes often stand between injury victims and meaningful recovery after life-changing personal injury accidents. But you do not have to weather such a challenge alone.
Contact us today at (713) 804-8149 for a free, no-obligation review of your personal injury or wrongful death case today. Let us stand by your side and apply our proven legal advocacy toward the justice and compensation you and your loved ones deserve.
