Personal injury law (Tort law)  enables an injured individual to file a civil case in court and receive a legal remedy for any losses due to an accident or incident. This is under civil law, which means that a private party is suing another, as opposed to criminal law, which the government prosecutes. The injury may have been caused by carelessness rather than a crime in these cases.

The goal of the personal injury law is to enable the injured individual to be paid financially after he or she has experienced injuries because of the negligence or intentional act of other people.

The following are the points to be discussed in this article:

•    The basics of personal injury law

•    How personal injury law started

•    Stages in filing a personal injury claim

Personal Injury: The Basics

Personal injury is the most common type of civil lawsuit because it encompasses such a broad range of situations, ranging from workplace accidents to medical malpractice. Vehicular accidents are the leading cause of personal injury lawsuits each year, accounting for more than half of all injury lawsuits. Vehicular accident cases are the most likely to succeed for the plaintiff or injured person and result in an average award of $16,000. 

The following are a handful of examples of other instances where personal injury laws apply:

Accidents

Personal injury law applies in instances when someone acts negligently and causes damage to another person. Some common examples are vehicular accidents, slips or fall incidents, and medical negligence. 

Intentional Acts

Personal injury law applies in cases when an individual is harmed as a result of the defendant’s intentional conduct, such as assault and battery or other intentional torts.

Products with defects

If the component of the vehicle, consumer product, medical equipment, pharmaceutical, or other product is defective or unreasonably harmful, anybody could be in danger by using it. This could be the ground for filing product liability cases to the manufacturer.

Defamation

If a person’s defamatory speech and comment cause harm to another, personal injury law may apply.

• Special Situations: In some instances, such as those involving police and firemen responding to emergency cases, the law may inquire if the officer operated “recklessly” in causing the injury or did they act without doing safety first principle to avoid further injury

• Wrongfully Caused: The damage is caused by another person or entity in an illegal manner (like a municipality or corporation).

How Personal Injury Law Came To Be

Personal injury laws are derived from ancient “common law” principles. The term “common law” refers to legislation enacted by the judges, as opposed to laws enacted by legislatures or enacted via bills and statutes.

When a judge hears and determines a case, her or his judgment on a particular legal matter becomes a binding precedent for all the other courts in the state which are “lower” than that of the deciding judge’s court. These other courts are then required to implement the first judge’s decision, and ultimately, all of the binding precedent results in the formation of the body of “common law.”

Because common law may and does vary by state, the laws governing personal injury law might not be consistent across the nation. Most of the common law has already been consolidated into something known as the Restatement of Torts, which serves as a guideline for understanding the laws, and many states rely on it for assistance on personal injury cases.

Personal injury law is not exclusively derived from common law. Legislative bodies have enacted statutes (laws) addressing personal injury matters. For instance, when legislators enacted workers’ compensation legislation, they effectively removed all instances of work-related injuries from the sphere of personal injury as well as making workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy available to injured employees (in many instances precluding injury-related lawsuits against employers).

Another state law that applies to injury lawsuits is the statute of limitations, which establishes a time restriction for filing a lawsuit in a state’s civil court system. Find out more about the deadlines for filing a personal injury case.

Stages In Filing A Personal Injury Claim

Because no two accidents are identical, then there are no two personal injury lawsuits that will go the same route. However, there are certain common stages that the majority of personal injury cases follow.

Injury to Plaintiff

This may be nearly any wrongdoing on the defendant’s side, apart from contractual breaches that are dealt with separately under a branch of law called “contract law.”

Claims for Breach of a Legal Duty

The particular legal obligation will be determined by the circumstances surrounding the injury. For instance, drivers are responsible for operating their cars with the same degree of care as a reasonable person will do while on the road. Doctors are legally required to treat patients according to the accepted medical standard of treatment. Distributors and manufacturers have an obligation not to promote defective or hazardous products.

Negotiations for settlement 

If all parties agree that the defendant violated a legal obligation, the plaintiff (or the insurance company which will represent them) may choose to settle outside the court premises. This would include making a monetary offer to the injured party in return for the party’s binding agreement not to sue over the injury.

If you are going to file a personal injury claim after an accident or incident, the best starting point would be to consult with a personal injury lawyer about your situation and your options. 

Personal injury law may be used for any injury caused by another person or entity, as long as the injury was inflicted by negligent, reckless, and intentional actions or by a strict liability action.

When all of these conditions are present, an injured individual may be entitled to collect a monetary amount for all damages sustained (medical expenses, lost income, and suffering and pain) by suing the individual or entity which caused the injury.

Good to Know

A personal injury case may be formalized through the representation of a personal injury lawyer in a civil court proceeding. This court session aims to establish legal liability for others by a court decision. As is much more typical, such disagreements may be addressed through informal settlement prior to filing any case.