Understanding Personal Injury Cases

Personal injury cases can be incredibly complicated and may seem too daunting for you to pursue as a result.

However, it’s worth pursuing your case if you truly believe and can prove that another party is responsible for the harm you suffered. While the harm can’t be undone, you can at least have some or even all of your medical bills paid should the judge decide to rule in your favour.

To make these cases a bit easier to understand, this article will define them, explain the various types of personal injury cases out there, and describe what could happen to your case once it’s filed. Hopefully, this will ease your mind enough to allow you to seek the compensation you deserve.

What is a Personal Injury Case?

A personal injury case is when one person claims that another caused them pain or harm and is seeking compensation for their injury.

Based on how severe your injury was, what caused it, and the laws of the state you filed the claim in, you may be owed medical expenses, lost wages, and possibly more. However, not all cases are ultimately allowed to go to court.

For example, if a company’s product causes unexpected problems, you can make a case against them—however, some states don’t offer this same process for those involved in car accidents unless the costs exceed a certain amount.

If you think you have a personal injury case, make sure you contact a lawyer. They can help you determine if you do based on your state’s laws and can help you throughout the entire process.

What is a Bodily Harm Case?

Suing someone for bodily harm means that someone else committed an action that resulted in you receiving physical injuries. Note that bodily harm and bodily injury are two different things here; bodily harm means any physical injury sustained from any wrongdoing, whereas bodily injury is a claim often filed after a car accident.

You can make a case for bodily harm so long as you sustain a physical injury from a series of bruises to broken bones and damaged organs. For a case to be filed, the defendant must be liable for one of three possible reasons: negligence, where they acted so recklessly you were harmed; strict liability, where someone’s inaction resulted in your injuries (may vary by state); and intentional wrongs, where someone directly intended to harm you.

You may be able to seek personal injury damages in a variety of situations. Some of the most common include product defects or malfunctions, assault and battery, vehicular accidents, and workplace injuries.

Since physical harm was inflicted, these types of claims may include needing medical bills, pictures and descriptions of the injuries sustained, or even eye-witness testimony and security camera footage to prove that not only did this harm occur but also who was at fault.

It’s also important to note that not all personal injury cases involve physical harm. While emotional distress will be covered in the next section, defamation, invasion of privacy, false imprisonment, and more are also considered in personal injury cases.

What is an Emotional Distress Case?

Emotional distress can be much harder to prove and receive compensation for. To have an emotional distress case, you must have suffered negative mental consequences as a result of someone else’s actions.

Once again, the person who caused your harm can only be held liable if one of the following three conditions are met: negligent action was taken, the defendant didn’t act when they should have, or intentional wrongdoing.

Proving this kind of personal injury case can be difficult, but there are a few ways to prove it occurred. If you have suffered emotional distress, you may suffer from depression, anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia, and sudden weight changes, just to name a few. The best way to prove that you suffered these consequences is to have a lot of proof.

Therapy bills and any notes a therapist can legally provide are some of the strongest, especially if the appointments resulted in a diagnosis of depression, PTSD, anxiety, or any other diagnosable condition that can be related back to the defendant’s wrongdoing. Another way to provide evidence is to document every symptom and when it occurred.

The more physical symptoms you experience, the stronger your case will be, but don’t try to force physical symptoms or write off what is a normal experience for you as a symptom; this may be easier to debunk than you think and will reflect poorly on not just the related claim but to all of your other personal injury claims as well.

What Should You Expect Once You’ve Filed a Claim?

Once you’ve hired a lawyer and filed your claim, you become a plaintiff while the accused becomes a defendant. When both parties are informed of the situation the discovery phase begins.

Both parties will request information from the other as they try to build their case. For example, if you are an employee accusing your employer, you may request security camera footage and any safety policy documents, while your employer may request your medical bills. At any point in this phase, each party may ask for answers to written questions or for the opposing party to be asked questions under oath.

After the discovery phase ends, both parties then go to trial and try to make their case before a judge. Some cases will only be presided over by the judge, while other cases may also have a jury.

Whether or not a jury will decide your case depends on state laws and how intense the claims are: the more you’re asking for, the more likely it is that a jury will be involved. There’s no guarantee your case will make it this far, however.

Preparing For Possible Outcomes

From the moment a case is filed up until the judge/jury makes their final verdict, you or the defendant may attempt to negotiate a settlement. This means you would receive compensation, and the defendant doesn’t need to accept that they were at fault. Most cases end with a settlement.

While personal injury cases may seem daunting at first glance, they are a lot simpler to understand once they’re broken down. Hopefully, it will be much easier now for you to receive the compensation you deserve should you ever be in a situation where a personal injury case is necessary.