If you suffered one or more personal injuries in an accident because of another person or entity’s carelessness, recklessness, or negligence, you might file a personal injury lawsuit, in which you name the at-fault party or parties as defendants. The personal injury lawsuit is a means of pursuing financial recovery for the injuries you suffered in your accident, as well as for all of the pain, suffering, and inconvenience that you had to endure as a result.
When it comes to personal injury lawsuits, statutes of limitations apply. Those statutes of limitations serve as time deadlines for filing a personal injury lawsuit, and they can vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In fact, in some states throughout the country, the time deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit is as short as one year from the accident date. Therefore, seek out experienced legal counsel to represent you as soon as possible after you suffer an injury in an accident.
An experienced personal injury attorney in your area can determine if you are eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit. If so, your lawyer can file your lawsuit promptly and can pursue the damages that you deserve for all of your extensive injury-related losses.
Types of Accidents that Can Lead to Personal Injury Lawsuits
Many different types of accidents can lead someone to file a personal injury lawsuit, and each accident has unique circumstances.
Some accidents that are commonly the basis of a personal injury lawsuit include:
- Car accidents – When a motor vehicle operator speeds, disregards the rules of the road, engages in distracted driving (such as by using a cell phone or other electronic device while driving), or operates a motor vehicle while intoxicated—and he or she collides with another motor vehicle as a result—then the injured accident victim could file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. In some cases, the accident victim could also sue the vehicle owner or another third party. For example, if the at-fault driver was operating his or her vehicle while on the job, then the accident victim might sue the driver’s employer.
- Truck accidents – When the driver of a large truck, big-rig, or tractor-trailer violates the rules of the road or state/federal motor carrier regulations and collides with another vehicle as a result, then the accident victim could file a lawsuit against the at-fault truck driver. In addition, if the truck driver was on the job at the time of the accident, the accident victim could also sue the trucking company that employs the negligent truck driver. In many cases, the trucking company should be vicariously liable for the employee driver’s negligence. The trucking company could also be responsible for negligently retaining, supervising, or hiring a problem truck driver—especially if the driver had a history of prior moving violations.
- Motorcycle and bicycle accidents – When a car or truck operator behaves negligently by violating one or more road rules and collides with a motorcycle or bicycle, it is usually the cyclist who suffers the more severe injuries. The injured cyclist, in turn, could then file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.
- Premises accidents – Property and business owners have a duty to ensure that their premises are free from hazards. They typically have a duty to warn against—or repair—known dangerous conditions on their properties and to inspect their properties for new arising defects. If someone suffers an injury due to a premises defect, such as in a slip and fall accident, the accident victim could file a lawsuit against the negligent property owner. However, premises accidents are not just limited to slip and falls. They also include accidents that result from defective equipment on the premises, such as elevators and escalators, along with assaults that occur on the premises because of deficient or negligent security that is in place.
- Pedestrian accidents – Motor vehicle operators owe a duty not just to other drivers, but also to pedestrians who are lawfully present in crosswalks, as well as in parking lots and parking garages. When a motor vehicle operator fails to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian, and an accident occurs, then the injured pedestrian could file a lawsuit against the negligent driver.
- Boating accidents – The owners and operators of ships, boats, yachts, and other watercraft owe a duty of care to those on board the vessel. Specifically, they must ensure that the boat is free from defects and is in proper working order at all times. In addition, boat operators owe a duty of care to other boat operators and their passengers to operate their watercraft safely and carefully at all times. When boat owners and operators breach this duty of care and cause an accident in which one or more passengers suffer injuries, then the accident victim could file a lawsuit against the responsible party or parties.
If you or a person you love suffered injuries in one of these accidents (among others), an experienced personal injury attorney near you could file a personal injury lawsuit seeking the financial recovery that you deserve.
The Process of Filing a Personal Injury Claim or Lawsuit
After an accident occurs, the accident victim will file a claim—usually with the at-fault person or entity’s insurance company. Once they file a claim, the accident victim’s attorney will send the insurance company a settlement demand package. This demand package usually includes a formal settlement demand letter, a copy of any police report or incident report that exists, copies of the accident victim’s medical records and medical bills, and lost wage documentation prepared by the accident victim’s employer.
The demand package may also include photographs of the accident victim’s injuries, as well as photographs of the property damage sustained (such as in a car accident). Finally, the demand package may include eyewitness statements prepared by individuals at the accident scene, and a victim impact statement that the accident victim prepares. A victim impact statement typically describes how the accident occurred and the impact that the accident had on the victim’s life.
Once the insurance company adjuster receives and reviews the settlement demand package and any attached documents, he or she may make an initial offer to settle the case. Often, this first offer is extremely low. In fact, many insurance companies will do everything that they possibly can to try and settle a personal injury case for a very small amount of money. This practice allows the insurance company to keep as much of its money in-house as possible.
After several rounds of negotiation between the plaintiff’s attorney and the insurance company, the case may settle for a reasonable amount. If the parties reach an impasse, then the accident victim’s lawyer could file a lawsuit against all responsible parties for the accident.
Once they file a personal injury lawsuit, the case can still settle at any point up until the time of trial. After the parties complete written and oral discovery, including depositions, they may attend a settlement conference or mediation proceeding—in an attempt to resolve the case favorably. If the case does not resolve at one of these proceedings, it may proceed to a jury trial, or the parties might agree to allow a neutral, third-party arbitrator to decide the case.
A personal injury attorney in your area can help you decide whether you should accept a pending settlement offer or file a lawsuit in your case. Your lawyer can also help you decide whether to take your case to trial or pursue alternative dispute resolution.
The Burden of Proof in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
In a personal injury lawsuit, the accident victim has the burden of sufficiently proving all of the legal elements in the case. First of all, the accident victim must show that the at-fault party owed him or her a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances. For example, in a car accident case, the driver of a motor vehicle has a duty to operate his or her vehicle reasonably and carefully at all times and to abide by all traffic laws and regulations that are in effect.
In addition to establishing that the at-fault party owed the accident victim a duty of care, the accident victim must show that the at-fault party violated, or breached, the applicable duty of care. In the context of a car accident case, for example, the at-fault driver may have been speeding or may have disregarded a red traffic light or some other traffic control device, bringing about the collision.
After showing that the at-fault party violated the duty of care in a personal injury case, the accident victim must show that this violation brought about the accident and resulting injuries. This legal element of proof is called causation.
Finally, in addition to proving the legal elements of duty, breach, and causation in a personal injury lawsuit, the accident victim must demonstrate that he or she suffered one or more physical injuries as a result of the accident. In other words, the accident victim must have suffered some type of damage. As a result, the accident victim can then pursue various forms of monetary compensation, including both economic and non-economic damages.
An experienced personal injury attorney in your area can assist you with filing a lawsuit and proving all of these legal elements at a jury trial. Again, the ultimate end goal of any personal injury lawsuit is to obtain financial recovery in the form of damages, and a personal injury lawyer will do everything possible to help you recover the compensation that you need and deserve.
Potential Damages that You Could Recover in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Accident victims can suffer serious injuries in an accident, depending on the type and scale of the accident. Potential injuries that an accident victim could sustain include cuts and bruises (which could later result in scarring), soft tissue injuries, bone fractures, back and spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain and head injuries, such as concussions. In the worst accident cases, the accident victim could suffer a fatal injury.
In a personal injury lawsuit that a lawyer files on your behalf, you can pursue and recover compensation for any of these injuries that you suffered in your accident. First of all, your lawyer could pursue compensation for all of your medical treatment expenses. You may be eligible to recover this compensation even if you had private health insurance that paid for some or all of your treatment. In addition to recovering your medical expenses, you could pursue compensation for any wage loss that you incurred, as well as other out-of-pocket costs and expenses.
In addition to these economic damages, you could file a claim for various types of non-economic damages. These damages are in place to compensate you for all of the inconvenience and pain and suffering that you had to endure because of your injuries.
If your quality of life changed because of the injuries you suffered, you could file a claim for loss of enjoyment of life. Moreover, if your injuries prevented you from using a certain body part, you could file a claim for loss of use. Finally, if your injuries have affected your ability to be intimate with your spouse, you could pursue a claim for loss of spousal companionship or consortium.
The main goal of a damage award in a personal injury case is to make you whole to the greatest extent possible. A personal injury attorney can file a lawsuit on your behalf and pursue one or more of these types of damages.
The best way to know whether a personal injury lawsuit is right in your situation, and how the process works, is to set up a free case evaluation and consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer near you.
