Personal Injury Case Information

Part 1

Our next couple of blogs will be related to what you can expect during the course of personal injury litigation. We hope this gives you some idea of what you might expect in the course your personal injury case.

I was hurt, someone owes me. Right?

Not necessarily. In order for an individual, company, or their insurance carrier, to be held responsible for an injury, there must be a reason. Usually, that reason is "negligence," which means not being careful for the safety of those around you, more or less. If someone runs a stop sign, and causes an accident, they are negligent, and will be responsible for the damages. If you are a customer in a restaurant, and there is something slippery on the floor, and you slip, fall and hurt yourself, the store owner can be held liable for your injury provided you can prove that the store operator knew there was a hazardous condition and failed to remedy it. However, if you are walking down the street and trip on a crack in the sidewalk you may not be able to sue the city unless you can prove they were grossly negligent. (Gross negligence is a legal concept which means serious carelessness.) These are the conditions that must be met in order to collect a monetary reward for personal injury.

Next?

You were injured, and someone was at fault.  What’s next?  Once responsibility for an injury is proven, the responsible party can be held liable in court for all damages related to your injury. Including payment of medical bills, prescriptions, mileage to and from doctor appointments, wages for lost time at work, as well as future lost wages if you have continuing medical treatment related to the injury. It also includes a monetary award for pain, suffering (physical and or mental,) inconvenience, and any other issues that could be considered for compensation related to the injury.