Personal Injury Lawsuit | Learn the Basics

What Is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Personal Injury Lawsuit

There is a chance that you will suffer an injury at some point in your life. When someone causes an incident that ends in damage to your body, he or she may be liable for your care. Take a closer look at what a personal injury lawsuit is all about and the steps involved in a case.

What Does ‘Personal Injury’ Mean?

A personal injury under the law occurs when one person’s negligence leads to the harm of another. The trauma must be emotional, mental or physical, and proven by medical evidence. There must be conclusive evidence that the person who caused the damage either broke the law or failed to exercise a common standard of care for others. To fall under personal injury, the at-fault individual must have:

Known that a duty to protect or care for others exists
Recklessly and purposely disregarded this duty
Directly caused harm to another as a result of the breach

As a result of these three actions, the injured individual may file a personal injury suit against the responsible party.

Examples of Personal Injury Claims

Some personal injury claims are more common than others. However, almost any incident that ends with a physical or mental injury could qualify, depending on the circumstances.

Medical Malpractice

Mistakes happen in every profession. However, when an avoidable error occurs in the medical field, the results may be deadly. Medical malpractice occurs when a medical provider is negligent in caring for a patient and does further harm. Negligence in medical malpractice happens due to a provider’s action or failure to act. Common examples of medical malpractice by a provider include:

Failure to diagnose
Wrong diagnosis
Operating on the wrong body part
Delaying diagnosis

A hospital or clinic may also be sued for mistakes made by those who work there. Hospitals find themselves in the hot seat when it comes to:

Charting mistakes
Dispensing the wrong medication or dosage
Infection rates
Delaying medical intervention

Car Accidents

The most common personal injury lawsuits involve motor vehicle accidents. If you have been unfortunate enough to be involved in a crash, then you may know how damaging they can be. When a driver is irresponsible behind the wheel and causes an accident, those harmed have the right to file a personal injury suit for damages. The auto insurance provider and the driver may both be named as defendants. In crashes that result in particularly severe injuries, the court may award punitive damages to punish the responsible party.

Slip and Fall

A slip or trip and fall may not seem like a big deal at the time, but after the embarrassment wears off, the injuries sustained may require medical attention. When a person files a slip-and-fall personal injury suit, it means that there was some underlying condition that caused the incident. In many cases, it means that the conditions were preventable, and had the owner of the property acted appropriately, the fall would not have happened.

Dog Bites

A simple visit to the local park shouldn’t end in an emergency room trip, but if you’ve been bitten by a dog, that might be where you find yourself. When a dog bites someone without being provoked, the responsibility for the injuries lies with the owner. If the dog has a known history of aggression and the owner didn’t keep it securely restrained, you may have grounds for a personal injury claim. In this case, the owner either knew or should have known the dog could pose a risk but failed to take proper precautions.

Steps in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Once you determine that you wish to proceed forward with a personal injury action, there are certain steps you can expect to happen. Since tort law hinges on procedures and timelines, have a lawyer dedicated to your case.

Proving Negligence

To start, you’ll need to prove that the person responsible for your injury acted negligently. While this might seem straightforward, the court needs solid evidence—not just assumptions. Before filing a lawsuit, your legal team will gather proof of the negligent action or failure to act. Some negligence cases are easier to establish than others. For instance, showing that a drunk driver caused an accident can be more direct while proving a doctor’s misdiagnosis often requires more detailed investigation.

The Court Process

A lawsuit starts when you file a complaint with the court and officially notify the defendant. This complaint outlines your claim that the defendant’s negligence caused you physical or mental harm. As the case moves forward, you’ll likely go through depositions, independent medical evaluations, and document sharing. This discovery phase can be lengthy, and it typically concludes with either a settlement or a court trial.

Damage Awards

If your personal injury lawsuit goes before a judge or jury, your legal team will be ready with a request for damages. In personal injury cases, there are three types of damage awards a court may order the defendant to pay to compensate you for the damage he or she inflicted.

Special compensatory damages reimburse you for the money you lost from the time the defendant committed the negligent act until the court process. The total award includes things such as lost income, medical bills, and insurance deductibles. You submit receipts proving these losses.

General compensatory damages are subjective. If you receive special compensatory damages, you may also collect general damages. If your injury was particularly painful, you might request that the judge order the defendant to compensate you for the pain and anguish.

Punitive damages are the most rarely awarded. The judge or jury may determine that the defendant’s negligence was particularly heinous and the resulting injury to you was equally horrific. A punitive award amount is entirely up to the court, but it is usually far above other damages. Punitive awards punish the defendant financially.

Work With an Experienced Local Lawyer

A personal injury lawsuit is never something you want to leave to chance. You should consider seeking the assistance of an attorney with the appropriate expertise and experience.

Submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area!

About the Author

Aaron is a professional legal writer with a B.S. in English Education from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. He has written, published, and edited thousands of legal articles for RequestLegalHelp, which has connected over 5 million people to legal help in the United States.

With over five years of experience writing thousands of legal articles for law firms across the U.S. and Canada, Aaron specializes in covering federal, state, and city-level legal issues ranging from auto accidents to wrongful terminations.