PERSONAL INJURY
A personal injury is an injury suffered by a person to his or her body, mind and emotions and is usually due to another’s negligence or carelessness. This can also include wrongful death or situations where the injuries prove fatal. A personal injury falls under the scope of the following headings. Either, Personal Injury Law or Tort Law.
A Tort is a legal way of saying that an act or omission by another individual or organisation that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a “civil wrong” for which courts can impose liability. In the context of torts, “injury” describes the invasion of any legal right, whereas “harm” describes a loss or detriment in fact that an individual suffers.
Another type of Tort also involves injuries caused by defective products. Liability in these cases can be imposed based on a legal theory that the manufacturer acted negligently by designing and selling an unsafe product. Or, if certain elements are met, plaintiffs hurt by a defective product may be able to sue under what is known as a strict liability theory. Either way, product liability cases can have the potential to become large class action lawsuits, involving many plaintiffs and enormous money judgments.
Most personal injury cases are based on the doctrine of negligence. In essence, negligence requires every member of society to act responsibly and avoid putting others at risk. That is not to say that negligence will result each time someone gets hurt. The doctrine recognizes that some accidents are unavoidable. To establish liability, the plaintiff must show that a reasonably prudent person in the defendant’s position would have acted differently under the circumstances.
Personal Injury Claim
A personal injury claim usually starts with the injured party suing another person, business, or a company. In these cases the individual suffering the personal injury (known as the Plaintiff) makes a claim from the negligent party (the Defendant) and requests compensation for the injuries sustained, generally known as damages.
Types of Personal Injury Claims
The most common types of personal injury claims are those arising from motor vehicle accidents, workplace accidents (Workers’ Compensation), slip and trip accidents (Public Liability) and assaults (Criminal Injuries).
The term “personal injury” also incorporates negligence in medical and dental procedures. For example when a medical or dental practitioner fails to exercise reasonable care in the treatment of a patient it is known as Medical Negligence
Damages
Damages which can be claimed are normally categorised as either “Special” or “General” Damages.
Special damages are claims that are easily measured such as medical expenses, loss of earnings and other related expenses.
General damages, on the other hand, are more intricate to quantify and encompass the following heads of damages, namely pain and suffering, loss of amenities of life and the loss of enjoyment of life.
Compensation
In order to lodge a claim for compensation, and if necessary receive an award from a Court, legal proceedings must start within a specified period of time from the date on which the accident occurred. Depending on which state you live in this period of time will vary and you will need to check with your lawyer or the relevant state legal authorities to check that you are legally allowed to take the personal injury claim to court
