- Personal injury is any physical injury inflicted on a person’s body, as opposed to damage to property or reputation.
- Personal injury lawyers mitigate any physical injuries, mental injuries, or property damage caused to you by another party’s negligence
- In this guide, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of personal injury. Including what it is commonly used for, who stands to file a claim, and possible outcomes for that decision.
Personal injury law enables a victim of an accident or other occurrence to bring a civil action in court and get compensation (also known as damages) for any losses resulting from the incident. The goal of the personal injury system is to give the victim of someone else’s careless or malicious behavior the opportunity to get financial compensation and justice.
Basically, the goal of personal injury law is to make sure that people who suffer injuries as a result of carelessness on private or public property are compensated fairly for their pain and suffering, expenses for medical care, and time away from work.
If someone else’s carelessness caused your injury, you have a right to compensation beyond merely medical costs. You are entitled to compensation for your past and future pain and suffering, past and future financial losses incurred as a result of the accident, as well as any personally identifiable damages. You are entitled to just recompense for any injuries you sustained as a result of an accident. Without first discussing your claim with a personal injury lawyer, do not attempt to file or settle your claim.
The Basics of Personal Injury
Accidents that result in injuries occur often, but not all of these incidents meet the criteria for a claim under personal injury law. There are a few general requirements that must be completed in order for an injured individual to be eligible to file a personal injury case, regardless of the sort of event that happened.
First, it must be proven that the Defendant owed the Plaintiff a legal “duty of care.” In certain situations, like an automobile collision, the standard of care owed by one person to another is quite obvious. Drivers are required to abide by the rules of the road, and if they do so and damage someone, they have often broken their duty of care to other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. The duty of care is not always obvious in other situations, such as a slip-and-fall accident or a workplace accident, and determining it will probably require a thorough investigation by an expert legal team.
The Defendant’s failure to fairly sustain their duty of care to the Plaintiff must then be proven. This is a difficult topic that should be left to qualified personal injury attorneys to answer, just as in all other personal injury law-related situations. Foreseeability is a significant element in establishing whether a duty of care has been broken. In general, it must be proven that the flaw or danger that resulted in the plaintiff’s injuries could have been anticipated and avoided or averted if the defendant had acted properly in order to bring a case.
Related Article: WHAT A CHICAGO PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY CAN DO FOR YOU?
The last need is that the defendant’s breach of their duty of care, which is sometimes referred to as negligence in the context of a personal injury case, directly caused the harm. Personal injury damages are what are caused by these injuries, which might be physical, emotional, or psychological in nature. If a personal injury claim is successful, the injured party can be compensated for these losses.
Naturally, those who have suffered severe injuries in an accident may ask if they have the right to bring a lawsuit to be compensated for their suffering. Here are some of the most typical personal injury case types we see at Drake & Collopy, P.C. to demonstrate the variety of ways a personal injury lawsuit may develop:
- Car crashes
- Construction mishaps
- Falls at a construction site
- Dropped item incidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Bus collisions
- Property liability mishaps
- Mistaken death incidents
- Occupational accidents
It can be challenging for laypeople to grasp personal injury legislation, especially when coping with a serious accident. We strongly advise speaking with an accomplished lawyer who can handle legal matters if you or someone close to you has been hurt in an accident so that you can concentrate on making a full and speedy recovery.
What is Personal Injury Law?
There are three typical forms of injury that can be done to a person under American law. These include reputational harm, property damage, and physical injury. Typically, a personal injury claim is made when someone really experiences physical or psychological impairment. Injury-causing behavior by another person might be careless, negligent, or malevolent. Personal injury claims often address three main issues that may arise after an incident:
- Actual physical injury
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
Actual physical hurt is a simple idea to grasp. Someone who was harmed in a car accident caused by a negligent driver might anticipate receiving compensation. Compensation would pay for any current medical expenditures as well as any projected future medical costs. This covers further operations, home care, physical therapy, and anything else that might assist the wounded individual in their efforts to lead somewhat regular lives once again.
The problem of pain and suffering is more complicated. Lawyers frequently advise their clients to cooperate with mental health specialists to record their suffering. A claimant should be able to provide evidence of the activities they once loved but are unable to continue with as well as their present state of mind.
Just as well, one of the more challenging ‘injuries’ to prove is mental anguish. Emotional discomfort might be considered to have been purposefully or carelessly caused. This encompasses a wide variety of harms, including defamation and bodily harm threats.
Related Article: 5 CATASTROPHIC INJURIES RESULTING FROM HIGHWAY CAR ACCIDENTS
Contact the Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Personal injury can be a difficult landscape to navigate, but we’re here to help as we have for many clients in the Chicago area in the past. Our experienced personal injury attorneys have been involved in many personal injury cases, from car accidents to nursing home abuse cases. Contact us today for a free consultation.
