Personal injuries result from negligence or intentional actions by another, whether this damage be physical, emotional or reputational in nature.
Personal injury law encompasses tort law (damages to non-property related rights) as well as claims related to dram shop practices or mass tort events like recall of drugs or chemical leaks.
What is a personal injury claim?
Personal injury cases provide victims with compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering caused by the negligence or reckless actions of another party. To help victims receive their deserved damages from negligent parties, personal injury lawyers strive to build strong cases by amassing as much evidence possible, such as photos, witness testimonies, expense reports and medical records.
Personal injury cases are filed by plaintiffs against defendants for injuries caused by their negligent or intentional acts, commonly known as tort law. Proving causation in personal injury suits typically requires showing that defendant’s actions directly caused injury – also referred to as actual cause or proximate cause.
Negligence
Personal injury law recognizes negligence as the basis for holding someone or an entity financially liable for harming you, providing both compensation for financial needs (like medical bills and lost wages) as well as non-financial harm ( like pain and suffering) caused.
Plaintiffs of personal injuries must establish that the defendant breached their duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances, defined as any action which falls short of how a prudent and careful person would have responded in similar situations.
Your claim for damages must also establish that the defendant’s breach was both actual and proximate cause of your injuries; that means your injuries were predictable consequences of their breach and did not arise as part of a preexisting condition that contributed to them.
Damages
Damages are a key component in establishing any personal injury claim, serving as compensation for harm caused by another party’s negligence or intentional act. Damages may take the form of both economic and noneconomic losses; economic damages (sometimes called special damages) can be easily proven in court and include medical treatment costs, hospital stays, surgery fees and medication expenses as well as lost earnings from missed work due to injury, as well as the lost potential earnings in future years.
Non-economic damages (general damages) are more difficult to quantify. They include emotional distress, pain and suffering, the loss of enjoyment of life, as well as punitive damages meant to punish reckless or malicious behavior by defendants. To be awarded general damages from an injured plaintiff, evidence such as doctors reports, police reports, receipts or receipts must show their loss was predictable and directly caused by their defendant’s actions – this requires proof from doctors, police reports or receipts among other sources.
Time limit
Statute of limitations laws vary between states and should you miss the deadline, your case will likely be dismissed without ever going before a judge for hearing.
Legislation setting time limits is designed to encourage victims of misdeeds or injuries sustained to file claims as soon as evidence is clear and witnesses’ memories remain fresh, since it can be more challenging for a judge to rule on claims that happen long after an incident took place.
Time limits may differ in cases involving minors, mental incapacity or the defendant being absent, so it’s wise to contact an NYC personal injury lawyer as soon as possible in order to file paperwork before the governing statute of limitations runs out. A knowledgeable attorney will ensure all deadlines are met quickly in your case and prevent delays which increase your chance of securing compensation.