Damages that Can Be Recovered in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
A personal injury lawsuit is filed by a person (or by his or her representative) who suffered an injury caused by negligence of another person. The injury can either be physical or emotional. A personal injury lawsuit aims to determine who is responsible for the injury or damage. Once determined, the one responsible will be required to compensate the injured person for all the losses that he or she sustained.
A person can recover many damages in a personal injury lawsuit. These damages are classified in two kinds, compensatory damages and punitive damages.
What are Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are also called actual damages. This is the type of damage that is awarded according to the actual amount of injury or harm suffered by the plaintiff. The concept of compensatory damages is to restore the plaintiff back to the status he or she was before the injury or harm occurred. For example, if a person smashes and destroys your car, the compensatory damages will be more or less equal to the value of your car. These damages are awarded before punitive damages are considered.
There are many types of compensatory damages including vehicle damages, disfigurement, trauma, losses such as loss of affection, pleasure, income, and earning capacity. Medical bills, mental and physical disability, pain and suffering, and property damage are also some of the types of compensatory damages.
What are Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are also known as exemplary damages. Exemplary because its purpose is to make an example of the defendant, and to change his or her malicious behaviour by letting him or her suffer economically. It is to discourage the type of conduct the defendant is engaged in. These damages are only awarded in very rare instances that the defendant is proven to intentionally or maliciously cause an injury or damage.
Personal Injury: Damages and How to Seek Compensation
A person who is a victim of personal injury may seek for compensation for the damages caused by the injury. There are very rare cases when punitive damages are also awarded. Victims of personal injury should seek help from an experienced attorney to make sure that they receive a fair settlement.
What are the Damages that are given Compensation?
The amount and the type of damages that are awarded will depend on the injuries that a victim incurred. The victim is required to make an attempt to minimize the losses that are caused by the injury. However, he or she can look for economic compensation to cover the following:
Monetary losses - These include medical expenses, either present or future. It also includes lost wages, and present cash value. Household services are also included. This is the cost of getting someone to maintain the victim’s house during the recovery.
Mental and Physical pain - These include permanent disability, disfigurement, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
The Basics of a Personal Injury Claim
If a person is injured due to negligence, careless, reckless, or deliberate act of another person, then a personal injury claim may occur. Obviously, one needs to be injured in order to have a personal injury claim. It is one way of supporting a personal injury case financially.
The Personal Injury Claim Solicitor
When a person is injured due to negligence of another party, he or she has the right to a personal injury claim to receive compensation. An injury claim solicitor will help so that the person injured can have a case in order for him or her to receive the compensation he or she deserves. It is very important to go to a personal injury claim solicitor when the victim is recovering from his or her personal injuries so that he or she can get the financial support needed in the process.
A personal injury claim solicitor offers timely legal advice support to study the case and thoroughly review injury claims. Of course in order to get the benefit of compensation, it is critical that the victim gives all the details concerning the incident to the personal injury solicitor. It is important for that victim and the personal injury solicitor to be honest to each other. It would really help the attorney to find ways in getting compensation for the victim.
Grounds of Personal Injury Claims
Personal Injury: A Brief Definition of a Tort
A tort is a civil wrong which can be redressed by awarding damages. A person is obligated to give compensation or remedy if he or she causes injury to another person or damage to a property. An order of compensation or jail time may be the result of some cases if one violates both civil and criminal law.
Involvement of an unlawful act does not really define a tort. One of the most common cases is car accidents, where one causes physical injury to another person but he or she has no intent to inflict such injury. Still, the person who was driving the car is required to give compensation.
Most of us are required to have liability insurance. This is the type of insurance that doesn’t protect yourself and your properties. It does, however, protect you from being held responsible for other party’s injury or damages. One good example of a person who needs liability insurance is a doctor. Doctors need malpractice insurance in case they get convicted of negligence. This will take care of the payment for the damages.
Different Types of Torts
• Intentional Tort – This is a type of tort wherein a plaintiff needs to prove that the defendant inflicted the injury intentionally.
Avoiding Personal Injury Means We Need to be Aware of Dangerous Products
Dangerous products are bought everyday by consumers all over the world. Take note that manufacturers are liable for injuries and deaths caused by their products, whether they know that their products are defective or not. If a dangerous product caused an injury to you or to someone you know, you may be entitled to receive compensation.
A product liability case can be brought by an individual injured by a defective product against the manufacturer and even the distributors and sellers of the product. These lawsuits may involve several legal theories including negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty.
There are two types of defective products, those that are manufactured improperly and those that have defective designs. A manufacturing defect occurs when something happens during the manufacturing process of a product which makes the product defective. It is a defect that is not part of the design of the product. Design defect occurs when the design of the product is faulty. As a result, the product is unnecessarily dangerous.
Products That Are Usually Found Defective
There are many defective products that are the subject of many lawsuits involving firearm defects, car fires, gas tank explosions, seatbelt releases, defective seatbelt buckles, defective shoulder belts, SUVs that roll, diet drugs and herbal medicines, power windows, door latch opening, tire explosion, defective engines on helicopters and airplanes, helmet cases, children’s beds and toys, and airbag injuries.
What to Do If You’re Injured by a Dangerous Product
When a person is injured by a dangerous product, he or she can recover the damages by bringing an action for product liability under one of the 3 theories:
Personal Injury: Product Recall Creating a Safer Place
A product recall is a request to return to the manufacturer a batch or the entire production of a product. It usually occurs when a certain product is found to be defective or dangerous and may be harmful to people. There are some cases wherein a product recall indicates that a part of a product is defective and may necessitate repair or replacement. Sometimes the product needs to be returned to the manufacturer or dealer for a replacement or full refund.
There are times when a company is forced to issue a product recall. But there are also many times when they issue it voluntarily. In very serious cases, there may be a market withdrawal where products will be completely removed from all marketplaces and will no longer be for sale until it is modified and proven safe.
Steps to a Product Recall
1. First, the manufacturer or the dealer contacts the authorities responsible regarding the intention to recall a product. There are consumer hotlines or other communication channels that are established per area or state.
2. Second, announcements are released regarding the product recall on the respective government agency’s website, as well as notices on daily newspapers to make people aware of it. In some cases, due to a heightened publicity of the recall, there will also be news television reports.
A Good Personal Injury Lawyer Knows Best
A personal injury lawyer provides legal representation for people who claim to be injured, either physically or emotionally, due to negligence of another person or entity. He or she may work with the opposing party or their insurance company to resolve the claim by settlement. However if settlement cannot be reached, he or she can take the claim in front of a jury.
Reasons to Use a Personal Injury Lawyer
A good personal injury lawyer knows the personal injury law very well. In some states, if you have contributed even slightly to your own injuries, you may not receive any compensation. A good personal injury lawyer will be able to help you find a way for you to receive compensation and maximize it.
Another reason for you to get a personal injury lawyer is because they know the Insurance Law and how it pertains to your case. There is definitely no way for you to know the intricacies of insurance law unless you have confronted insurance companies.
There are some insurance adjusters that misrepresent the law as an attempt to convince you that you are not entitled to any compensation. Insurance companies may also purposely forget to tell you some of the conditions of your policy that may entitle you to a larger compensation. A good personal injury lawyer will be able to protect you from these practices.
An experienced personal injury lawyer already has an idea on how much compensation you should receive depending on the injury. Again, there is definitely no way for you to know these things. So without this information, you will have no idea on how much compensation you should expect. Insurance adjusters and other lawyers can take advantage of that and keep your compensation at the minimum.
A Good Personal Injury Attorney for a Just Compensation
A lawyer who represents people who have been injured in accidents that are caused by defective products is a personal injury attorney. He or she helps his or her client in suing when they have been hurt, whether physically or emotionally. Generally, this type of attorney fights only cases wherein the injured party is not at fault. However, there are cases wherein the plaintiff shares the fault for his or her injury with another person or entity.
A personal injury attorney is also called upon to handle medical malpractices. For example, if there is a surgical, medical, or dental accident, and it injures a person in some way, he or she can ask help from a personal injury attorney to seek compensation. Now winning will depend on the attorney’s ability to prove that the medical professional did not ensure the safety of the patient. A personal injury attorney can also be called upon to handle cases wherein a person develops a disease because of his or her occupation or because of exposure to some type of dangerous substance like asbestos or cyanide.
How to Choose a Good Personal Injury Attorney
If the person injured is you or someone you love, of course you would want to be able to choose the best personal injury attorney.
There are numerous ways to find names of attorneys as per your need. The better way is to consult with a lawyer you know, or get suggestions from health care professional or friends. You can also contact a State Bar referral service. Also, the internet is always a good source of information, so you can go ahead and check online for a lawyers’ directory. If in case a lawyer is unable to take up your case, he or she can refer you to someone who they know can handle it better and may collect a referral fee in the process.
Product Liability Law Protects Consumers from Defective Products
Every product should be able to meet the regular or ordinary expectation of a consumer. If a person buys a product and incurred injuries because of it, he or she has the right to sue the manufacturer of the product. Product liability law, also known as products liability, governs the liability of the manufacturers, distributors, and sellers for injuries or damages caused by their defective products. Its goal is to help protect consumers from dangerous products, and at the same time holding manufacturers and sellers responsible for putting products that they should have known were defective or dangerous into the marketplace.
The Ones Responsible
For product liability to arise, of course there should be a product that was sold in a marketplace. If the person who purchases the product gets injured because of a defect of the product, then the liability could rest with any party in the product’s chain of distribution, from manufacturers to sellers, and even installers. However, the sale of the product must be made in the regular course of the supplier’s business, which means that someone who sells merchandise at a garage sale would probably not be legally responsible in a product liability action.
The Types of Product Liabilities
Product liability is generally based on three theories:
Personal Injury: Defective Products are Everywhere
When you buy a product, you always expect it to be safe and usable. Unfortunately, there are cases wherein a product is sold with blatant flaws and endanger the health and life of a person. If a product causes injury or damage to a person due to its flaw or weakness, that is a defective product. These products are usually automobiles, children’s products and toys, medication, home structure materials, and household appliances.
The manufacturers are responsible for the safety of their own products and for letting their consumers know the dangers associated with them. They owe their consumers the obligation to manufacture and design a product that is safe. So if a product is unreasonably dangerous or unsafe for reasonably foreseeable uses, then the manufacturer is liable for personal injuries that are caused by the product. If the distributor or seller of the product contributed to the defect, they may also be liable.
Ways in Which a Product May Be Defective
Manufacturing Defect – It can occur even if the product is well designed. No matter how perfect the planning is, this is a defect that is a result of something that happens during the manufacturing process. The liability may also arise from a mistake or oversight in its design. This kind of defect is not intended to be part of a product. Products that are prone to this type of defect include tires that blow and vehicles whose parts are not made to specification.
Design Defect – In this case, a person may be injured because of the poor design of the product. A good example is a ladder that cannot handle the weight of a person. A bicycle whose brakes fail and a teakettle whose handle breaks are also products with design defects.
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