What are the most frequently awarded legal damages? When individuals suffer injuries in an accident or occurrence resulting from someone else’s negligence, they may be eligible to recover various monetary damages. These accident victims can sometimes recover damages through a personal injury settlement. Sometimes, their lawyer must file a lawsuit and litigate their case in court. They may then recover damages via a civil jury trial or binding arbitration hearing.
If you suffered injuries in an accident that resulted from someone else’s carelessness or recklessness, you should always retain an experienced personal injury lawyer to represent you as soon as possible. Time is of the essence in your case, and if you wait too long, you may no longer be eligible to file a claim or lawsuit for monetary compensation.
A knowledgeable Edmonton personal injury lawyer in your area can meet with you to review your circumstances and determine your eligibility for filing a claim. If you are eligible, your lawyer can assist you during the claims-filing process and negotiate with the at-fault party’s insurance carrier on your behalf. Suppose the insurance company adjuster does not offer fair compensation for your injuries and other damages. In that case, your lawyer can file a lawsuit in court and litigate your case to an efficient resolution.
Types of Personal Injury Claims that Arise from Others’ Negligence
Personal injury claims and lawsuits are about negligence. An individual is negligent when they violate a duty of care that they owe to someone else. For example, a driver is negligent when they break a traffic law or regulation, and as a result, a car crash occurs in which someone else suffers injuries.
When it comes to the legal standard of care in a negligence claim or lawsuit, courts look to the reasonable person standard. Generally speaking, an individual is negligent when they fail to do something that a hypothetical reasonable person should have done in the same situation. Similarly, their inactions may amount to negligence if they fail to do something that a hypothetical reasonable person should have done under the same or similar circumstances.
Some of the most common personal injury claims that arise from others’ negligence include:
- Motor vehicle accident claims: Where a car or truck operator violates a traffic law, engages in road rage, operates their vehicle while intoxicated, or engages in distracted driving, causing a severe accident.
- Premises liability claims: Where a property owner fails to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition for the benefit of others, and an accident occurs that causes injuries.
- Medical negligence or malpractice claims: Where a healthcare provider makes a grave mistake, such as by botching a surgical procedure, misdiagnosing a patient, or failing to diagnose a patient’s medical condition promptly
- Pedestrian accident claims: Where a motor vehicle operator fails to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian who is lawfully present on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk, parking lot, or parking garage
- Bicycle accident and motorcycle accident claims: Where a car or truck operator violates a rule of the road or negligently fails to yield the right-of-way to a cyclist, dislodging the cyclist from their bike and causing them to suffer severe and sometimes deadly injuries
- Product liability claims: Where a product manufacturer, designer, or some other entity in the chain of product distribution makes a mistake, causing the product to malfunction or explode when a consumer uses it correctly
If you suffered injuries in an incident that resulted from someone else’s negligence, you might be eligible to file one of these personal injury claims with the at-fault party’s insurance company. Your personal injury lawyer can assist you throughout the claims-filing process and negotiate with the insurance company adjuster on your behalf. If the adjuster refuses to settle your case for a reasonable amount, your lawyer can explain your litigation options and help you move forward with your case efficiently.
The Burden of Proof in a Personal Injury Case
Even though the accident victim suffers the injuries, they have the sole legal burden of proof in a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Therefore, they must demonstrate that the at-fault party deviated from the prevailing standard of care, causing the occurrence which led to their injuries. They must also show that they suffered at least one physical injury and that their injury directly resulted from the event.
A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer can help you prove the legal elements of your claim so that you are eligible to recover monetary damages for your injuries. In some instances, your lawyer may need to retain one or more experts to testify on your behalf—either at a discovery deposition or as a witness in court at trial. First, your lawyer can retain an accident reconstructionist if the insurance company disputes fault for the accident.
An accident reconstruction expert can review police reports, speak with eyewitnesses about the occurrence, and visit the scene of the event. They can then identify exactly how the accident in question likely happened and who caused it. Finally, an accident reconstructionist can testify in court to support your version of events.
In addition to hiring an accident reconstructionist, your lawyer can retain a medical expert who can testify as to medical causation in your case. Specifically, the medical provider can state, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, that your claimed injuries directly resulted from the occurrence in question.
The provider can also establish that you suffered one or more permanent injuries. A permanent injury is unlikely to improve with time and will likely cause the accident victim to experience some degree of pain, suffering, and inconvenience for the rest of their life.
Injuries that Accident Victims Suffer
When individuals commit negligent actions and inactions, they may cause an accident that leaves one or more people severely injured. An accident victim’s injuries will depend upon various factors, including the type of accident involved and the affected body parts.
Some of the most common injuries that result from others’ negligence include:
- Traumatic head and brain injuries, including concussions
- Soft tissue injuries, including neck and back strains from abrupt forward and backward movements, such as in a rear-end car accident.
- Fractures and broken bones
- Internal organ damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Full and partial paralysis
If you believe you suffered injuries in an accident, you should seek prompt medical treatment immediately. Moreover, you should not delay this treatment—even for a day or two. Otherwise, your injuries may become significantly worse over time. Moreover, if you need to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit, the insurance company will likely hold your delayed medical treatment against you. They may allege that since you did not treat right away, your injuries were not all that serious.
When you follow up at a hospital emergency room or urgent care center right after your accident, the medical provider on duty can review your symptoms with you and order the necessary imaging studies, including CAT scans, MRIs, and X-rays. They can then review the studies and render an accurate medical diagnosis. Finally, the responding medical provider can recommend future treatment in the event your symptoms become worse.
Even while you treat your injuries, it is extremely helpful to have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side. During this time, your lawyer can begin advocating for you. First, your lawyer can draft a settlement demand letter for the insurance company adjuster to review after you complete your medical treatment.
This letter will make a monetary demand for settlement within the applicable insurance policy limits. Moreover, your lawyer can start gathering up your lost wage documents, earning statements, medical records, photographs of your injuries, and a personal statement to assemble into a settlement demand package for the insurance company’s review.
Recoverable Damages in Personal Injury Cases
Victims of serious accidents that result from negligence can recover various damages through the settlement or litigation process. All personal injury cases are different, and the monetary damages one accident victim recovers will likely differ from those another accident victim receives.
Factors that influence the types and amounts of recoverable damages include the type of accident that occurs, the amount of force associated with the accident, the specific injuries that the accident victim suffers, the medical treatment that they undergo for their injuries, whether they missed time from work, and their overall pain levels.
Some of the most common damages that accident victims may recover in their personal injury claim or lawsuit include compensation for:
- Lost earnings: If they had to miss time from work to attend medical appointments and physical therapy visits.
- Loss of earning capacity: If they cannot return to their pre-accident job due to the severity of their injuries.
- Past pain and suffering: For the symptoms that they experienced between the accident date and the present time
- Future pain and suffering: If a medical provider determines that they suffered a permanent injury—and that they will likely experience pain and other symptoms for the rest of their life.
- Emotional anguish and mental distress: If they sought the care of a mental health professional, such as a counsellor, psychiatrist, or psychologist, due to the accident and their injuries.
- Lost quality of life: If their activity levels decreased since the time of their accident due to the injuries they suffered.
- Loss of the ability to use a body part: Such as where the accident victim suffers a permanent injury, like full or partial paralysis
- Loss of spousal companionship and consortium: Where the accident victim’s injuries prevent or limit their ability to have sexual relations with a spouse
A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer will aggressively advocate for you at both the settlement and litigation stages of your case. Your lawyer can help you maximize the damages you recover by highlighting the strengths of your personal injury claim while downplaying any claim weaknesses.
Filing a Timely Claim or Lawsuit for Damages
Victims of accidents that result from negligence have a concise window of time in which to file a personal injury lawsuit seeking monetary damages. That timeframe begins to run on the date of your accident and, in almost all cases, ends precisely two years later.
If you fail to file a lawsuit for monetary damages within those two years, the court will bar you from recovering monetary damages in your case, citing the statute of limitations. Therefore, it is in your best interest to retain experienced legal counsel to represent you as soon as possible.
Once you retain an experienced personal injury lawyer, they can begin advocating for you right away and file a claim on your behalf with the insurance company. If the statute of limitations is running short in your case, your lawyer can file a prompt and timely lawsuit on your behalf and begin advocating for your legal interests.
Call an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer in Your Area Today
If you suffered injuries in an accident or occurrence that someone else caused, you might be unsure of what to do or where to turn next. Fortunately, a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer in your area can help.
Your lawyer can help you retain the necessary experts and file a personal injury claim with the appropriate insurance company adjuster. Your lawyer can also negotiate with the insurance company representative on your behalf and pursue the damages that you need. Finally, if the insurance company will not take your case seriously and refuses to offer you the total compensation that you deserve, your lawyer can file a lawsuit in the court system and litigate your case at a jury trial or binding arbitration proceeding.
Remember, it is not in the insurance company’s interest to give you the money you deserve. The less money it pays out on settlements, the higher its profit margin. Your Edmonton personal injury lawyer will be your advocate every step of the way and work hard to maximize the damages you recover in your personal injury claim or lawsuit.
