Personal Injury Law Overview
Personal injury is a catch-all term used to describe legal torts, which are legal injuries that require payment of money damages to compensate the injured victim. There are many different bases for alleging personal injury liability, and there are equally as many different ways to calculate damages caused by the injury. Liability and damages are the two key components of any personal injury lawsuit or claim.
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Liability
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Personal injury liability spans many different legal principles, including intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, product liability and medical malpractice. By far the most common type of personal claim is negligence. Auto accidents, slip and falls, and dog bites all fall under the negligence umbrella. Generally, to prove negligence you must prove that the person who caused the injury acted unreasonably. For example, they may have acted unreasonably when they caused a car crash by speeding, failing to stop or failing to maintain a proper lookout while driving a car.
Damages
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After establishing liability it then becomes necessary to establish damages. Monetary damages are the law's rudimentary method for attempting to make an injured victim whole again. Obviously, monetary damages will not restore a broken body part, but they at least provide some form of recompense to the victim. Generally, victims can claim property damages, pain and suffering damages, incidental damages like medical and therapy expenses, and lost income caused by the accident. There is no set formula for calculating total damages.
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Insurance
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Most personal injuries are covered by some type of insurance policy. If you file a medical malpractice claim against your doctor, the doctor very likely has a malpractice liability policy that will provide payment for your damages. Similarly, if you sue another driver who caused a car crash, then that driver's automobile liability insurance will provide coverage for the damages, but if that driver doesn't have insurance your own automobile insurance policy will cover the damages under an uninsured motorist claim. Insurance therefore plays a critical role in making sure that money is available to compensate injured victims.
Claims
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Asserting a personal injury claim is typically a multi-step process. First, there usually are informal discussions and negotiations between the injured victim and the appropriate insurance company. If the company denies the claim, the victim will file a lawsuit. Ultimately, that lawsuit will result in trial before a judge or jury. The judge or jury will decide whether the victim has proved liability, and if so, will then decide how much money in damages should be awarded. Very few personal injury claims actually result in a trial. The overwhelming majority of claims are settled, or compromised, before a trial takes place.
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References
- Photo Credit car crash image by dawn from Fotolia.com
