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What Is Personal Injury Law And How Does It Work?

By Luke Worli posted 02-04-2021 02:33 AM

  

Personal injury law allows an injured person to file a case in court and get a legal remedy for all losses incurred due to the accident. The sole purpose of this system is to provide the injured person with adequate financial compensation. 


This article will:

  • Cover the basics of personal injury law
  • Explain how a personal injury case works
  • Discuss where personal injury law comes from

There are several situations where personal injury rules apply: 


Accidents: Personal injury rules are applicable in cases where someone is negligent and his/her carelessness causes harm to the other person. Such instances include slip and fall accidents, medical malpractices, car accidents, among others. 


Intentional Acts: In this case, a defendant’s intentional conduct causes harm to another person. Examples of this include physical assault and other intentional torts. 


Defective Products: In such a situation, a consumer product, vehicle component, medical device, and other products are responsible for the damage caused to a person. The victim is entitled to file a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer. 


Defamation: Personal injury laws apply when one person’s defamatory statement causes harm to another.

Who Makes Personal Injury Laws?


Several personal injury laws date back to “old” common law rules. The latter refers to the law made by judges and not the ones made by legislatures or passed in bills. In this scenario, the final judgment in a particular case became a binding precedent on all other courts that were lower than the deciding judge’s court. These courts then needed to apply what the first judge said, and eventually, this led to the creation of common law. 


However, common law can differ from state to state. So, the rules for personal injury may or may not be uniform across the country. Interestingly, much of the common law has been collected into the “Restatement of Torts.” This guidebook explains rules, and many states seek guidance from this on personal injury matters. 


As a matter of fact, common law is not the only source of personal injury law. The legislature has passed several other laws that take up the subject of personal injury and related issues. For example, when legislatures were working on compensation laws, they considered all instances of work-related injuries. 


Another important state law that is important when it comes to injury cases is the statute of limitations. It sets a limit on the time you have to file an injury-related lawsuit in your state’s civil court. 


How Does a Personal Injury Case Work?


While no two cases are the same, similarly, no two personal injury cases will follow the same path. Here are some standard procedures that most personal injury cases follow. 


Defendant Harms The Plaintiff


This can be any bad act on the part of the defendant. However, this does not include contractual breaches. 


Plaintiff Claims that Defendant Breached a Legal Duty


This specific charge depends on the situation in which the injury occurred. For example, drivers need to drive their vehicles, keeping in mind that they don’t incur anyone. Similarly, doctors are bound by the law to treat patients as per the approved medical standards. Manufacturers and distributors must ensure that they do not sell defective or dangerous products in the market. 


Settlement Claims 


Once it is clear that the defendant breached a legal duty, then he/she may wish to settle outside the court. The process would involve offering monetary compensation to the injured person. This comes with a promise that the injured person will not be filing a lawsuit over the injury. 


If the plaintiff agrees to the settlement, the case ends then and there. However, the plaintiff may also choose to go to court and file a personal injury lawsuit. Then the process of negotiations takes place once the lawsuit is filed. As a matter of fact, the settlement can be done anytime before the civil case is handed over to the jury. 


Still, if the case is not settled, the jury then sits and decides on the compensation that needs to be provided to the plaintiff. 


In this article, we reviewed what the personal injury lawsuit is and how it works. The victim always needs to be careful while dealing with the defendants. Hiring a reasonable, experienced personal injury attorney will help you get the best claim for your damage. It will also provide you with mental peace, and you can solely focus on recovering. All you need to do is have the right presence of mind and take the correct actions and let your attorney handle the rest. 

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