Every single day people are injured in accidents that they didn’t cause, and not all accidents will begin a personal injury case. Whether the situation begins with a claim or maybe a realization of the injuries does depend on a lot of factors, and there are a lot of factors that determine the case, such as failing to do something on the part of the business, or even the injuries of the victim.
When do they Come Up
Usually, they happen when a person gets an injury in such a way that the other person might be responsible for this legally.
They can be finalized through filing lawsuits against the parties that are associated, and this starts with claims filed through insurance, settled before lawsuits happen. In some cases, the settlements might also happen before verdicts are reached.
What is the Legal Theory in This
The most common is negligence. This is when some person or company should’ve done something reasonable but then it ended up not being done, so the person got hurt.
However, some cases might be intentional acts, including assault and battery.
Another part of this is liability. The theory here is that certain kinds of cases might need to be proven, but in some cases, not all victims need to show that they acted careless.
What are the Elements of This
When it comes to negligence claims, there are four main elements that go into this.
The first is duty, which is what a business or owner should’ve done before the person came in. it’s essentially the responsibilities whether from the business, the law itself, or when engaging in actions is done.
People generally owe some people some kind of responsibility, and they’re to take care to prevent injury towards other people.
The negligence claims are usually framed in the following way: what is the duty of care that I need to give the other person?
The next part is the breach which shows how the other person breached duty of care, such as maybe disobeying traffic laws or even drinking and driving in the case of motor vehicle accidents.
The next part is causation, which is of course the plaintiff giving the proof that this problem caused this action, and that they suffered due to this.
Finally, you’ve got damages, which are property damages, medical expenses both incurred in the past and what you will have to pay in the future, wages lost, compensation for other lost earnings, and of course pain, suffering, and mental anguish, but all of these are available to each type of case. Punitive damages are sometimes given when the defendant does something very egregious, such as wrongful death and others, which might result in much larger sums for the families of the person lost.
What is Strict Liability
Strict liability is where some members are held up to higher levels, such as doctors and such, and if they hurt another person, this can be called strict liability.
In that case, the plaintiff doesn’t need to prove that there was negligence, but instead let the burden of their being an authority in place.
For a lot of liability cases, they do take long, and in a lot of cases they might be settled before they go to trial.
The best thing to do is to start it. If there are others at fault, then the jury will determine the proper compensation. In a lot of cases, you can go for multiple parties.
To start this, talk to a personal injury attorney to help you sort this out today.