Personal injury law is an area of civil law concerned with cases in which one party causes another person injury due to negligence or intentional behavior.
These lawsuits often result in damages being awarded, such as medical bills, lost wages and property damage; noneconomic damages include pain and suffering or emotional distress.
Liability analysis
Personal injury law (commonly known as tort law) covers injuries and losses caused by another’s negligence or carelessness. As it’s civil in nature, this requires private parties filing claims against another rather than having someone prosecuted by government agencies.
To successfully win your personal injury case, your lawyer must demonstrate how the negligent actions of the defendant directly caused you harm or loss – this is called causation. Your attorney must show how their failure to perform their duty due to law led to injury or loss for you and that this negligence played a part. Your attorney could even allege gross negligence or willful or reckless behavior on their part resulting in this outcome.
Your attorney must also calculate the value of your damages depending on the case at hand, including financial compensations such as medical bills, lost wages and property damage; but also non-economic ones for things like pain and suffering and disfigurement which cannot be quantified directly with financial figures. Your lawyer should have ample experience when assigning dollar values to such damages.
Personal injury cases often resolve through negotiations between your attorney and the defendant’s insurance company to reach a settlement, however your case could also go to trial where it will be heard by either a judge and jury or only one. Should it go to trial, damages awards will be decided by a jury.
Gathering evidence
Evidence is the cornerstone of a successful personal injury claim. To win your claim, you must show how the actions or inactions of the defendant directly caused your injuries and losses; additionally, they must have violated a legal duty they owed you such as breach of fiduciary responsibility which often refers to negligence claims.
Evidence collected at an accident scene is of paramount importance; such items include skid marks from an accident scene or pictures taken of it as well as medical and financial documents. To preserve evidence as quickly as possible after an incident has taken place and to preserve witnesses’ memories over time.
Your lawyer will gather certain types of evidence as part of their standard protocol, such as police reports and hospital/doctor’s records. They may also use discovery to gather additional documents, like cell phone or video surveillance footage.
Your attorney will utilize medical evidence to establish the nature and severity of your injuries, as well as any resulting complications or long-term effects. They’ll use it also to calculate damages for economic losses like medical bills, surgeries, prescription costs, device expenses as well as loss of earning capacity costs and future expenses. They may also consult experts like medical experts or accident reconstructionists.
Preparing for trial
Personal injury attorneys begin the trial preparation process after conducting a liability analysis and gathering evidence, reviewing statutes of limitation, state negligence laws and relevant case law to prepare their client’s case for trial. They do this by studying statutes of limitation, state negligence laws and relevant case law; also by determining whether the Defendant breached their duty of care to their Plaintiff based on foreseeability law (i.e. showing how an accident could have been reasonably anticipated by someone with sufficient care in similar situations).
Therefore, it is critical that clients partner with an attorney with extensive trial experience. Trial preparation typically includes compiling medical records, police reports, witness statements and any other documentation relevant to the case. Furthermore, your attorney will select which witnesses to call; such as family physicians, treatment providers and vocational and functional experts. They’ll even assist your client prepare to testify at their deposition.
At this stage, your lawyer will submit a demand letter to the defendant’s insurance company demanding compensation for your injuries and damages, such as economic costs like medical expenses and lost wages as well as non-economic ones like pain and suffering or mental anguish. Some victims may seek punitive damages as an act of revenge; although this tactic rarely yields positive results.
Filing a lawsuit
Once completing their investigation and interviewing you, your lawyer can prepare and file a formal complaint against those responsible. This document details why they believe they caused your injuries as well as what compensation is sought from them. Depending on whether they agree to settle with you at this point, an agreement may be reached wherein both parties sign a settlement agreement.
If they refuse, your lawyer will start the formal litigation process, consisting of interrogatories and depositions. He or she will collect and review all medical bills, accident reports and other documentation of your injuries in order to establish their full extent and impact in your life. These documents also serve to prove special damages such as medical expenses or income lost from lost work, while general damages include non-measurable losses such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life or emotional distress that cannot be quantified directly.
Your attorney must prove that the defendant violated their duty of care, which caused your injuries directly – this is known as causation. Furthermore, they must demonstrate that these injuries were reasonably foreseeable – which means probable or likely.