Personal Injury Law involves one party (the plaintiff) filing suit against another individual, business, or government agency (the defendant). An experienced lawyer can help you assess whether your case stands up against scrutiny, negotiate with insurance providers on your behalf and secure the best possible settlement on behalf of their clients.
Working in this area of law can be both emotionally and financially taxing, so it is crucial that you prepare yourself by investing in education and training.
Duty of care
People and businesses have a legal duty to act with reasonable care in order to keep others safe, and when they fail in this endeavor and someone becomes injured as a result of it they could be held liable. New York City drivers owe everyone on the road an obligation to obey traffic laws safely while driving safely, retail stores must maintain premises that are reasonably safe for visitors etc.
Personal injury cases require that injured parties prove that the defendant owed them a duty of care, that it was breached (known as negligence), and that this action caused their injuries. Proving these elements allows plaintiffs to receive compensation for losses such as medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering; but doing so successfully often requires expert guidance – our lawyers understand these complex issues well, helping injured parties win their claims successfully.
Breach of duty
Proving breach of duty is one of the four elements essential to successful personal injury cases based on negligence (which comprises most personal injury lawsuits). A breach of duty directly impacts whether your case can move forward, how much compensation might be available to you, and ultimately how it’s resolved.
Everyone owes a general obligation to act with reasonable care when engaging in certain interactions with others, whether that’s driving safely and following traffic regulations, maintaining safe property for visitors, or medical providers providing competent and careful care to patients. While each situation varies, everyone should owe another party due care when acting upon it. Examples might include drivers obeying traffic laws and driving safely; business owners keeping visitors safe on their properties safe for visiting customers, and medical providers providing quality healthcare to patients.
Personal injury cases depend on evidence such as eyewitness statements, photos or videos from the scene of the accident, police reports, expert opinions and documentation of injuries to establish any breach of duty on behalf of defendants. The stronger this evidence is, the easier it will be to demonstrate negligence on their part which caused harm.
Causation
Personal injury cases only succeed if they can demonstrate that negligent conduct caused your injuries and losses. Causation, the legal term used to connect one party’s conduct to damages sustained, must be proven for your case to proceed successfully. It is one of four legal elements necessary for winning any personal injury suit.
Your injuries must have been caused both directly and proximately by the actions of the defendant, so to show this you must create a chain connecting their negligence with both your injuries and damages.
Medical records, eyewitness testimony and expert witness testimony all help establish causation; however, in cases involving substantial damages where their full extent of injuries and losses remain unknown it may be more challenging for your attorney to establish causality than by following standard negligence rules alone. When this occurs they may need to rely on strict liability statutes in lieu of standard negligence rules as part of their strategy for success.
Damages
Personal injury damages are designed to make victims “whole.” Damages may result from various accidents and may be divided into general and special categories. Special damages cover costs like medical treatment, lost earnings and property damage that can be measured using bills or receipts; future costs such as expected medical treatments and lost earning capacity are estimated by medical experts; while non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement may not be so easily quantifiable; punitive damages may also apply when defendant conduct is particularly harmful or severe.
Personal injury cases are most frequently filed to recover financial losses caused by someone else’s wrongful actions, whether through settlement or court awards after trial. Personal injury law encourages everyone to act responsibly as anyone can be held liable for harm caused by negligent or reckless behavior of others.
