The saying goes 'accidents happen.' But what if the accident was preventable? Or worse yet the accident happened because of the careless actions of another person?
Millions of people each year are impacted by personal injuries that impact their health and lifestyle. If the injury was avoidable or someone is at fault, it is likely there will be a lawsuit.
Personal injury cases are prevalent when 30+ million people each year experience injuries. How do you know if you have a personal injury case? Should someone have to pay for your accident?
Learn about personal injury lawsuits and the possible outcomes of such a case.
Define Personal Injury
The key component to a personal injury case revolves around fault or negligence. You can be injured without their being fault or negligence.
The key to a personal injury case is the grounds to hold someone accountable for the injury.
Calculating Damages
If you get involved in a lawsuit because of a personal injury, you are hoping to get some type of damages. Damages are based on multiple factors. Damages get paid by the party who has been negligent or was a party to causing your personal injury.
Damages can come for a variety of reasons. The key for your lawyer is to establish what the injury has cost you.
The cost can be in a variety of forms. Whether those are actually bills from the injury, loss of work, or loss of lifestyle. Damages can also come in the form of penalty.
Types of Damages
There are two types of lawsuits from personal injury cases. The type of lawsuit might depend on the type of damages you hope to gain, punitive or compensatory.
When you file a lawsuit, you often expect to go to court to have the case resolved. However, many personal injury cases are reached in a settlement between the parties without a judge and jury.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are as they suggest. The intention is punishment for involvement or negligence related to the personal injury.
These type of damages go beyond payment for expenses. Instead, their intent is to be costly and to teach a lesson so to avoid it happening again.
Compensatory Damages
The intention of compensatory damages is to compensate the injured party. The compensation can come for a variety of reasons:
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Medical treatment
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Income
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Property loss
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Pain and suffering
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Emotional distress
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Loss of enjoyment
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Loss of consortium
Getting Money for Damages
Often in an injury lawsuit, there are multiple parties involved. The injured, the defendant, their lawyers and insurance companies. Whether you reach a settlement or your case goes before a judge and jury the goal is to get financial damages.
Sometimes those damages are paid in one lump sum. Other times payment comes in a structured settlement.
Personal Injury Cases: Know Where You Stand
It's bad enough to experience an injury. But it's even worse to know someone was at fault for your pain and suffering. Personal injury cases help the injured to get some compensation and relief from the injury incurred.
To learn more, explore the law and insurance sections on our website. It's time to learn to leverage the law!
