What Defines Personal Injury?

Personal injury is a common, yet complicated area of the law where an injured person seeks compensation for an injury or injuries they suffered due to another person or company’s negligence or failure to exercise reasonable care. In addition to compensation for physical injuries, a person filing a lawsuit for personal injury may also claim damages for emotional distress, pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses, emotional trauma or distress, household services, injury to reputation, wage loss, and loss of future earnings.

Types of Personal Injury

The most common types of personal injury claims arise when someone is injured while operating or traveling in a car, bike, train, plane, bus, or boat. Personal injury claims can also include Medical Malpractice, Product Liability, Premises Liability, and Defamation.

Actions for personal injury can also arise from amusement park accidents, burn injuries, injuries from products for children or children’s toys, lawn mower accidents, air bag defects, construction accidents, slipping and falling, power line injuries, dog bites, and swimming pool accidents or drownings.

Another form of personal injury is defamation of character or slander. In this type of claim, a party may sue for compensatory damages as a result of damage to reputation or emotional distress, and may also include, among other things, loss of earnings and loss of future earnings.

Crime Victims

Crime victims can also sue their attacker for personal injury. For instance, if an individual assaults and batters a victim, that offender will not only be subject to criminal charges, but will also be liable for any injuries they inflicted on the victim.

Experienced Attorneys

Many lawyers, including those at Freundlich & Littman, LLC., accept personal injury cases on a contingency basis. This means the attorneys do not get paid unless you get paid.

In all personal injury cases, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff (the person seeking compensation). Therefore, it is important to have an experienced attorney and to contact that attorney as quickly as possible following an injury. There are statutes of limitations associated with filing personal injury lawsuits, meaning that an injured party only has a finite period of time in which to file a lawsuit, and if they fail to file within that time period, their claim is barred forever.

It is also important your attorney learn the details of your case while they are still fresh in your mind. A detail you may think is of little significance may be of great importance in your case. Additionally, if an insurance company is involved in your case, an experienced attorney will examine the applicable automobile, homeowners, medical or other relevant insurance policy and advise you of your rights under the policies. It is important to seek legal counsel right away, as most insurance companies will attempt to settle a case for pennies on the dollar, taking advantage of the injured party.

Austin R. Freundlich, Esquire and Gregory C. Littman, Esquire are experienced personal injury attorneys. If you, a loved one or family member has suffered a personal injury, contact us today for a free consultation and case evaluation.