Personal Injury Law in Louisville, KY
Were you hurt due to another’s negligence in Louisville? If so, it may have far-reaching consequences such as a loss of wages or extensive medical treatment. Personal injury law allows an injured person to get damages if the responsible person acted recklessly. A personal injury attorney in Louisville, KY can help navigate the lawsuit to make sure you receive all of the compensation you deserve.
What Is Personal Injury Law?
Personal injury law in Louisville relates to the legal process of getting compensation for an injury caused by someone else’s negligent behavior. These cases involve one party, the plaintiff, trying to seek financial compensation for expenses incurred and money lost as a result of the defendant’s reckless behavior. These cases involve both parties’ insurance companies and may even settle before proceeding to litigation.
Examples of Personal Injury Claims in Louisville, KY
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.
A few of the most common personal injury claims are:
- Car Accidents
- Slip and Fall
- Dog Bites
- Medical Malpractice
- Workplace Accidents
- Burn Injuries
Most Common Injuries in Louisville
The leading causes of injuries resulting in hospitalizations in Kentucky are unintentional falls, intentional self-harm by poisoning, and unintentional poisoning. According to the Kentucky Safety and Prevention Alignment Network’s data on Jefferson County, falls, and motor vehicle accidents are the most common causes of hospitalization. Louisville, located in Jefferson County, experiences a high number of these accidents, as it is the largest city in Kentucky.
Steps in a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Louisville, KY
Once you determine that you wish to proceed forward with a personal injury action in Kentucky
A lawsuit begins when a complaint is filed with the court and served on the defendant. The complaint alleges your assertion as the plaintiff that the defendant’s negligent behavior resulted in damage to your body or mental state. As the process proceeds forward, you may have to go through depositions, independent medical evaluations, and document production. This discovery process is lengthy and ends in either a settlement or a court appearance. In Louisville, after consulting with your attorney, you can draft a demand letter to send to the defendant and the court. This includes the basis for your claim, the names of the defendants, and the damages you are seeking. If no settlement can be reached you then enter the discovery process, which will lead to another opportunity for settlement, or trial. With most personal injury cases, insurance companies and injured parties prefer settlement negotiations rather than going to court for a trial. You may wonder how much you should seek in your settlement and factors that impact the final amount. Data from Safe Kentucky.org found that injuries from falls cost residents of Jefferson County $444,002,254 in medical bills alone. In addition, motor vehicle accident medical costs amounted to $205,119,054 across the county, with the average cost of a hospital visit in cities like Louisville amounting to an average of $77,737 per individual. When you are seeking a settlement for your injuries, one of the biggest factors in the decision of the final award is the type, and severity of your injury. If the other party has insurance, the insurance company likely wants to settle out of court. In order to avoid leaving the final settlement decision to a jury. Settlements benefit injured parties as much as they do insurance companies. This is because accepting a settlement means you receive compensation sooner rather than later. Also, by going to court in KY, that means you risk not receiving any compensation at all. If your Kentucky 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. In order to compensate you for the damage he or she inflicted. Special compensatory damages reimburse you for 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 and are up to the court. The judge or jury may determine that the defendant’s negligence was particularly heinous and the resulting injury to you was equally horrific. Kentucky is one of a few states that does not have caps on any of the damages that you could seek in a personal injury case. The injured party may have a set amount of time to file suit for a personal injury case. State law establishes statutes of limitation. Commonly, the plaintiff’s injury or discovery of the injury begins the statute of limitations. However, the latter factor is trickier, as the plaintiff will have to prove when the injury was first realized. Kentucky abides by a one-year statute of limitations. In Louisville, this means that you have just one year from the date of your accident to file any relevant claim. We recommend you speak with a personal injury lawyer for this matter. Don’t wait too long and miss out on receiving the compensation you deserve for your injury. Pursue a personal injury claim in Louisville against the responsible person if you are dealing with an injury caused by someone else. One of our experienced lawyers can help you navigate your personal injury claim. We can even help you connect with an attorney across Kentucky state lines. Submit a request online or call us today at (866) 345-6784 to get in touch with an experienced lawyer in your area! 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.Kentucky Personal Injury Settlement
Damage Awards in Kentucky
Statute of Limitations in Louisville, KY Personal Injury Law?
Work With an Experienced Louisville, KY Lawyer
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