Personal Injury Law

Archive for the ‘Lawsuits’ Category

There are two broad categories of personal injury law:

Negligence cases: These cases come into scene when harm done by the individual involved in an accident is unintentional and never meant to cause any injury. When someone acts carelessly and causes an injury to another person, then the careless person will be legally liable for the harm. Most of the cases arise out of the negligence of the driver involved in the accident. To win such cases the injured person has to prove that the injury caused in the accident was due to the violation of the duties/law by the other party. The driver who caused the accident is to be proved legally negligent and hence liable to pay the compensation for the injuries and damage of the property if any. This also includes clinical negligence cases and personal injury accidents of several kinds. To file a claim under negligence cases you have to keep in mind three things:

1. There should be a duty of care between both the parties involved in the accident.
2. The person who caused injury fell short of this duty of care.
3. Last but not the least is the resultant injury caused by the other side.

Intentional Torts: This falls in the category of cases when a legal action is taken on the basis of wrongful actions taken intentionally by other party and which resulted in injury. In this case the things tend to be more complex; as most of the insurance companies do not cover intentional wrong doings. Hence obtaining the compensation becomes difficult. Intentional torts include assault and battery cases, defamation, child abuse, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction, emotional distress, tort of false imprisonment, trespass, fraud. Trespassing and actions of nuisance come under the category of property torts and the remaining come under person.

It is very important to have a clear record of whereabouts of the accident. Questions like what actually happened, when, where and how, what kind of injury was involved, witnesses to the accident, etc would be a part of the legal process, hence there can be no scope of any kind of confusion because the success of your claim will depend upon the answers of these questions. If after accident you are not in a condition to take notes at the site, you must ask one of your loved one or one you trust to take notes because it would be of utmost importance to file a legal claim.

Take notes of how and what happened, name and complete addresses of the witnesses to the accident, how much is the extent of the injury you or your loved ones faced, weather conditions, time and place of accident, license plate number of the other vehicle(s) involved in the accident, driver’s name, address, phone number and insurance information, after effects of your injury (personal and professional). Keep the copy of the police report; facts in the report can further help you in your case, providing strong evidences. If possible take photographs of the accident scene from different angles. Keep record of the medical reports of the injuries caused due to the accident. In case of property damages, keep the records of the repair costs and also the photos of the damaged part of the vehicle. All this will help in ultimately contributing to the success of your claim.

After this preliminary task of making notes, meet your attorney within seven days of the accident and let him know the complete history of the accident, produce the notes before him. Try to answer every question your attorney asks for, this will help you in getting the best advice from him. After your detailed description of the case the attorney will want to know about your insurance coverage, with how many people you have discussed this accident and what was told to them by you, and few other things he need to know to accept the case. You must be very clear and sure about whatever you say and describe to your attorney.