Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. Nobody expects an accident to happen, so we are left unprepared. So, we either survive, or we do not. If we survive, the accident most likely leaves a scar, injury, or pain that we need to deal with and suffer from for the rest of our lives.
The trauma caused by the accident and a possible injury, as a result, is not a joke. Yet, the most challenging part is when another person’s negligence or recklessness causes the accident. Facing a situation like this can be confusing and frustrating as what needs to be done next is usually a big question mark. However, in this case, the best thing to do is filing for a personal injury case to achieve justice.
Personal injury law, or tort law, enables the injured person to be granted just compensation due to another person’s negligence or wrongful conduct. Several situations can be a source of a personal injury claim. There is no the same case twice, as there are factors that vary, including the cause, the people involved, and the personal injury lawyers in-charge of the claim. Knowing who is responsible for your miserable situation helps lawyers identify whom to seek compensation.
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To understand how personal injury law works, here are the five most common personal injury causes that most lawyers handle:
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice refers to the negligence of doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other health and medical care professionals resulting in severe injuries. This malpractice usually happens when the treatment is given below the expected medical care standards. The most common medical malpractices include surgical errors, misdiagnosis, a birth injury sustained during delivery, failure to diagnose serious illnesses, among the few. Since this claim is considered complex, there is a need to consult and ask for legal assistance from a medical malpractice attorney.
Vehicular Accident
Vehicular accidents involve cars, truck, and motorcycle accidents. The most well-known cause of these accidents is driver error. The responsible driver may be distracted, drunk, overfatigue, or under the influence of alcohol. Every year, millions of people experience these severe accidents that usually leads to wrongful death or permanent disability. It is essential to contact a personal injury lawyer to help you as soon as possible after the accident, especially if you have sustained injuries. In most instances, witnesses and pieces of evidence tend to vanish by the responsible party.
Wrongful Death
A wrongful death lawsuit is filed if the victim died due to another person’s negligence. The most common accidents resulting from a wrongful death are vehicular, including airplanes or ships, construction, medical malpractice, and many more. Since the situation is truly devastating for the victim’s family, the wrongful death lawsuit allows the family to be granted different compensation, unlike non-fatal injuries. The possible damages that can be recovered are loss of life, loss of employment, medical and funeral expenses, pain and suffering, to name a few.
Workplace Accident
Serious injuries usually originate from work-related accidents. These accidents include but are not limited to trips or falls, a hazardous work environment, hazardous materials, crashes, collisions, etc. Although health and safety training takes place in every workplace, accidents can still happen. However, employees are not usually allowed to file a personal injury claim as they can pursue their claim under the Workers’ Compensation Act, requiring employers to provide compensation towards injured employees. The compensation act varies from one state to another; thus, it may be best to check the state’s process of the injured employee.
Products Liability
Having to deal with defective and dangerous products that leads to severe injuries can happen anywhere. Without proper manuals and warnings, the result can also be severe. The common harmful products are drugs, food, children products, vehicle parts, medical devices, toxic substances, and chemicals. In case this claim is filed, the responsible parties are those who distributed, sold, manufactured a defective product. If there is any way you are a victim of a dangerous product and got injured, it is wise to call an attorney to help you with the legal process and to ensure in granting you the maximum compensation.
Determining the grounds for a personal injury claim is still the first step. To avoid wasting too much time finding out what to do next, asking legal assistance from an experienced personal injury lawyer can save you time and effort. Having the best law firm on your side can help during the most challenging time of your life. They carry with you the burden and support you in the best possible way there is. Thus, filing for a personal injury claim can be best summarized into four achievable steps.
Reviewing the accident
Personal injury lawyers ensure that you cover all sides of the accident’s occurrence —the events and the person responsible. You have to ensure that the other person is at fault for the accident. Police and incident reports can support your claim.
Gathering relevant evidence
Aside from the police and incident reports, witnesses, and pieces of evidence from the accident need to be gathered. Moreover, you also have to provide medical documents to prove sustained injuries due to the accident caused by another person’s negligence.
Calculating acceptable settlement
Damages refer to your losses while suffering from a severe injury due to the accident. There are two kinds of damages for personal injury claims: special damages and general damages. Special damages include medical bills, therapy expenses, medication, and many more. On the other hand, general damages are more complicated to be computed in numbers, as it involves loss of life, pain, suffering, emotional trauma, or distress.
Ensuring proper case filing
Once the filing of the claim is successful, you have to discuss how you would like to proceed with the case with your lawyer. Settlement usually happens any time after that, or the case may undergo a full trial.
If you or your loved one suffers from severe injuries due to another person’s reckless behavior, you need the best legal services from the law firm you can genuinely trust – one like O’Brien Murphy Solicitors. The journey alone is difficult; thus, choose your injury lawyers wisely as they exist to help you with their best interest in mind.
