Personal Injury Lawyers

What Is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law is an area of civil law in which an individual was injured in an incident caused by careless, reckless, or intentional behavior exhibited by someone else.

This area of the law focuses on establishing liability in the accident and awarding compensation for injury related expenses, including:

• Medical expenses such as ambulance transport, emergency department services, surgery, hospitalization, medication, rehabilitation, and the provision of mobility assistance such as wheelchairs or crutches.
• Future medical expenses in cases involving ongoing treatment or permanent disability.
• Repair or replacement of property that was damaged in the accident, such as a vehicle damaged in a car accident.
• Other out-of-pocket expenses, including the provision of home modifications to accommodate the injured individual or the cost of renting a car or taking a taxi to attend medical appointments.
• Lost wages due to being too injured to work or missing work for medical treatment.
• Loss of future earning capacity in cases involving injuries that are so severe that the injured individual is unable to continue doing the same type of work as he or she did before the accident and is forced to take a lower-paying job, or the person’s injuries result in permanent disability, rendering him or her unable to work at all.
• Non-economic expenses to compensate the injured individual for the emotional toll that the injury has on his or her life, such as pain and suffering, or loss of enjoyment of life.

To obtain compensation for expenses that are due to an accident that resulted in injury, the injured person (plaintiff) must establish liability on the part of the at-fault party (defendant).

This is done by proving that:

• The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care. This duty of care depends on the type of accident involved. In car accidents, the duty of care would likely be to drive a motor vehicle safely and lawfully. In medical malpractice cases, the duty of care would be to provide the level of care that a reasonably prudent doctor would in similar circumstances. In premises liability cases, the duty of care would be to keep one’s property safe from hazards that may cause injury to guests.
• There was a breach in the duty of care. Again, the breach is dependent on the case, but this is the negligent or intentional behavior that placed the plaintiff in danger of experiencing an injury.
• The breach led to the accident, which resulted in the plaintiff acquiring an injury and resultant expenses.

Upon establishing legal liability for the accident, the plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer will attempt to obtain compensation for his or her client by either negotiating a settlement with the defendant’s insurance carrier or by pursuing a court judgment.

What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

A personal injury lawyer provides your best chance for obtaining fair compensation for your injuries.

Not only does a personal injury lawyer provide you with guidance as to the legal options that are available to you, but they can provide other services as well, including:

• Establishing a value to the case based on the expenses you face and the impact your injuries have had on your life.
• Examining your case to determine all potentially liable parties and insurance resources.
• The use of experts such as those knowledgeable in accident reconstruction and medical professionals with experience in treating the type of injuries you sustained to strengthen your case.
• Skilled negotiation with the goal to obtain the highest settlement possible in your case.
• The timely filing of a personal injury lawsuit if a fair settlement is not offered.
• Aggressive representation in court, including the pre-trial, trial, and post-trial phases.
• Assistance in collecting your award or settlement.

What Accidents Fall Under Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law is a broad practice area, and an umbrella to all kinds of accidents. Some of the more common accidents that may result in a personal injury claim include:

• Car accidents: According to the Insurance Information Institute, 36,560 people died as a result of motor vehicle accidents in the United States in one recent year. While this number represents a 4.1 decrease in car accident fatalities, car accidents remain one of the leading causes of accidental death and injury. Common causes of car accidents include speeding, alcohol impairment, distracted driving, fatigue, following too closely, and failure to yield the right-of-way. Types of car accidents include rear-end accidents, head on collisions, sideswipe, T-bone crashes, and rollover accidents.
• Construction accidents: The construction industry accounts for about 20 percent of all fatal accidents in the workplace. Excluding transportation accidents, the leading causes of construction fatalities and injuries include falls, which account for 40 percent of all construction accidents; workers getting struck by an object, accounting for 8 percent; electrocutions, accounting for 7 percent; and getting caught in or between machines or objects, 5 percent. These leading causes of death and injury are referred to as construction’s “fatal four.”
• Motorcycle accidents: Without the protective features found on vehicles, such as a steel frames, seat belts, and airbags, motorcycles present hazards to their riders. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that there were nearly 5,000 fatalities associated with motorcycle accidents in one recent year. Riders involved in accidents face severe injuries including head injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, and road rash.
• Nursing home abuse and neglect: People all across the nation entrust the care of their elderly and disabled loved ones to the care of nursing homes. Unfortunately, abuse and neglect sometimes occur at the hands of negligent staff and facilities who fail to use an abundance of caution when hiring and training staff. Abuse may include physical, sexual, emotional, or financial, or neglect. Red flags for possible nursing home abuse and neglect include unexplained injuries, sudden changes in your loved one’s behavior, reluctance of staff to allow you to be alone with your loved one, an unkempt appearance—including soiled clothing, a dirty or poorly maintained facility, obvious signs of over-medication or under-medication, bedsores, signs of restraint such as bruises on the wrists or ankles, and unexplained withdrawals from the elderly person’s bank account.
• Pedestrian accidents: Every 88 minutes a pedestrian dies in a traffic accident in the United States. In one recent year, pedestrians made up 16 percent of all traffic-related fatalities. Pedestrians are most commonly involved in accidents during the evening hours of 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the nighttime hours of 9 p.m. to midnight. Some of the situations that may lead to pedestrian accidents include not being visible to motorists, distractions, motorists making left turns, or motorists who fail to look for pedestrians before pulling into or backing out of driveways and parking lots.
• Slip, trip, and fall accidents: Falls are the leading cause of death for older Americans. Slip, trip, and fall accidents are the most common premises liability claims. Property owners—including private residences, businesses, and agencies tasked with maintaining public buildings and lands—are required to ensure that their property is free of hazards that can cause injuries to their guests. Some of the common causes of this type of accident includes improperly designed staircases, broken handrails, loose flooring materials, water or debris on the floor, and potholes in parking lots.
• Truck accidents: Weighing 20 to 30 times more than a passenger car, commercial trucks pose hazards to other drivers including a longer distance required to come to a safe stop, wide turns, significant blind spots on all four sides, high ground clearance which increases the likelihood of a smaller vehicle sliding beneath the truck during an accident, and a high ground clearance which increases the risk of a rollover.
• Rideshare accidents: Rideshares are a growing phenomenon in the U.S. However, along with the increased reliance on rideshares, the accident rate in the cities in which they operate has increased as well. One of the chief causes of this, as revealed in a study, is “deadheading,” which is the act of a rideshare driver driving around waiting for a ride. There is also concern that the app rideshare drivers use to accept rides poses a dangerous driving distraction.
• Product liability accidents: Manufacturers and distributors of products such as food, drugs, clothing, toys, and auto parts are legally required to ensure that their products are properly labeled and that they are safe when used as directed.
• Subway and train accidents: Relying on public transport shouldn’t require travelers to risk their lives. However, accidents on public transport can and do happen, and when they do, the operators and the transit agencies they work for may be found liable.

How to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you need a personal injury lawyer, you can find one by asking a trusted friend or acquaintance for recommendations, or you can conduct an internet search.

Ensure that the lawyer you’re interested in hiring is licensed to practice in your state, and check to make sure that he or she has not been subject to any disciplinary actions by checking with your state bar. Many states provide databases with this information that is accessible online.

Carefully read the postings about the lawyer on review sites, and peruse the lawyer’s website to read what he or she has posted about representing victims of accidents like yours.

Many personal injury lawyers will provide a free consultation for prospective clients. This is a time for you to share with the attorney the details of your case as well as to ask any legal questions you may have.

It is also a job interview of sorts, in which you can decide if you’re comfortable with this lawyer representing you. You should prepare questions to ask during this consultation.

After you’ve attended one or more meetings and have decided which lawyer you want to hire to represent you, the lawyer will likely provide documents for you to sign outlining important information such as the payment of fees and the scope of services to be provided.

Be sure that you read these documents and understand them fully before signing. If you have any questions about what the document states, be sure to ask the lawyer.

Some questions you will want to ask include:

• How much experience do you have with representing cases like mine? Do you normally handle cases like this?
• How many cases have you obtained a settlement for? What is the highest settlement you have negotiated?
• How many cases have you litigated?
• Have you won any awards or honors? Are you a member of any legal organizations?
• Who will be working on my case? Will you be the attorney who represents me?
• Who is my contact with your firm and how will communication be handled?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?
• What are your fees and how are you paid?
• What case-related costs am I responsible for?
• How many cases do you represent at a time, and how much time do you have for my case?
• What is my case worth?
• What is my role in the lawsuit?
• Do you have any referrals from past clients that you can provide to me?

Asking for referrals from a personal injury lawyer you’re considering hiring to represent you isn’t any more unusual or awkward as an employer asking a potential employee for referrals. Most attorneys expect to be asked to furnish referrals to prospective clients.