Personal injury attorneys represent injured accident victims in litigation against at-fault parties and help them recover economic and noneconomic damages, such as medical bills, lost income, property damage and emotional distress. Noneconomic damages include pain and suffering as well as any related loss of enjoyment of life or emotional distress that results from their injury.
Formal proceedings in personal injury claims start by filing a civil court complaint and then serving the defendant, which often requires hiring a process server.
Defective Products
Products liability law is an intricate area that deals with the safety of products sold into commerce, with claims often alleging negligence based on strict liability, design defects, breach of warranty, or failure to warn. Personal injury lawyers possess extensive knowledge regarding these claims and will work with you to identify the most effective course of action for pursuing them.
At any point in time, various products can become the source of personal injuries cases. From cars and furniture to medical devices and foods, personal injury claims arising from products are quite varied; from cars and furniture to medical devices and foods. Claims generally fall into either manufacturing defects or design defects. Manufacturing defect claims usually involve problems during production that cause injuries – for instance when parts fail prematurely during assembly line production; packaging mistakes cause injuries as can improper labeling and packaging which leads to injuries from products sold to consumers.
Design defect cases involve products with inherent design issues that make them potentially dangerous, rather than due to any specific error in manufacturing process or oversight during quality control testing. Faulty design claims can include products as diverse as medical devices, auto parts, household appliances and drugs – such as those linked with serious side effects like heart attacks and strokes from pharmaceuticals such as Merck that have not undergone adequate quality controls testing procedures.
In most jurisdictions, an individual injured by a defective product has the right to file a product liability suit against those responsible. This could include manufacturers, wholesalers/distributors/retailers that sold it and anyone in between who could have prevented injury from happening. To be successful with their case against these parties, however, they must prove that the product was unreasonably dangerous; caused injury/illness directly associated with its use; and was unreasonably hazardous in terms of risk to health or life.
Negligence
Negligence is one of the primary grounds for personal injury lawsuits. This form of tort law involves any person or entity failing to use appropriate and ethical care in certain circumstances, often including auto accidents, slip and falls, dog bites and medical malpractice claims. Most injury cases revolve around whether a defendant was negligent. To establish this factual scenario a plaintiff must demonstrate four elements:
First and foremost, establishing that the defendant owed them a duty of care must occur. This can usually be accomplished by considering what actions would have been taken by any reasonable person in his or her shoes and then showing how the failure to act represented a breach of that obligation.
Plaintiffs must demonstrate that a negligent act by the defendant caused them injuries or harm directly, which is known as causation. While this can be challenging in certain cases where defendant actions weren’t directly the source of plaintiff injuries, circumstantial evidence such as “the thing speaks for itself” can help establish this connection – this doctrine is known as res ipsa loquitur (meaning that its action speaks for itself).
Finally, the plaintiff must prove their injuries have caused real harm and economic loss. This can be accomplished through collecting documentation such as medical bills or invoices, pay stubs showing lost wages due to injuries sustained in an accident, accurate evaluations of pain and suffering suffered as a result of these events, etc. In certain instances, plaintiffs can also pursue noneconomic damages.
If the victim’s attorneys can demonstrate these elements, they can file a claim against the negligent party or insurance provider and pursue financial compensation from them through court action or settlement negotiations. It should be noted, however, that both their insurance provider and legal team will do everything in their power to discredit these claims by offering defenses that prevent a jury trial being conducted on them.
Defendants found liable will be required to compensate the plaintiff according to the proportion of fault assigned by the jury, so it is crucial that injured people work with an experienced personal injury attorney in order to build a compelling case.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice lawsuits are among the most complex legal claims, requiring an in-depth knowledge and skill that only comes with experience and dedication to this niche area of law. Because of this, personal injury attorneys that specialize in this particular aspect tend to experience higher success rates than general personal injury lawyers.
An award of damages may result from a successful medical malpractice case, including future medical procedures to address injuries caused by misdiagnosis by doctors, as well as lost income if someone can no longer work due to injuries suffered in an accident, and pain and suffering damages for emotional distress suffered as a result of such negligence.
Medical malpractice suits often end in settlement. This allows both parties to save both time and money as well as reduce stress incurred from protracted litigation proceedings. However, this doesn’t preclude a personal injury lawyer from successfully litigating their client’s medical negligence claim in court if settlement attempts fail.
As with other types of personal injury claims, medical malpractice suits require evidence showing the doctor breached their professional obligations. An attorney can help by reviewing patient records and conferring with other healthcare professionals regarding any breaches that might exist.
As part of its evaluation of potential medical malpractice suits, juries often consider whether a doctor’s actions deviated from accepted norms of practice within his community and caused injury to patients. There can be many gray areas when it comes to defining malpractice; when being accused of such can feel intimidating.
Once an injured party has experienced due to doctor negligence, they should contact a medical malpractice attorney immediately. New York law has set forth a 2-1/2 year statute of limitations which requires filing their claims within this time period or they risk having them dismissed by a judge.
Wrongful Death
A wrongful death suit may be brought when someone dies due to someone’s negligence. While this type of case differs from traditional personal injury suits in terms of its structure and process, similar issues still apply such as proving breached duties were breached as well as how those actions directly caused their wrongful demise.
Examples of wrongful deaths could include an accident which leads to a car crash, someone falling from a ladder while working on roof and dying, or those neglected or mistreated in nursing homes. Medical malpractice cases and workplace accidents also frequently result in fatalities; for example an overworked employee dies in work-related accident while working too many hours or a doctor committing surgical errors can all constitute cases of wrongful death.
Proving that a death was due to negligence is often the cornerstone of any wrongful death claim. This means demonstrating that the deceased person had legal standing to make an insurance claim against those at fault and their death directly resulted from that party’s actions. Wrongful death claims typically focus on “pecuniary damages”, intended to compensate survivors for losses such as lost income and funeral costs; laws vary widely regarding how such compensation should be calculated as well as which losses might not be calculable at first glance.
Litigating against those responsible for the death of your loved one can send a clear message: negligence will not be tolerated and may help to reduce similar incidents in future.
Be mindful that wrongful death cases are generally tried in civil court rather than criminal court, meaning the standard of proof required can often be met by simply preponderance of evidence rather than stringent criminal court requirements for guilty verdicts. Therefore, successful wrongful death claims can bring significant financial compensation for the survivors of victims; to maximize these chances it’s wise to consult an experienced personal injury attorney regarding potential wrongful death claims in order to ensure all relevant issues are fully considered and an effective case built.