In a free country, individual rights over property are an important area of protection given under the law. Personal injury law, also known as tort law, is formulated to protect you and your property against all injuries and harms caused by someone else’s failure. In personal injury claims, compensation is sought by the owner, to be able to restore life before the harm. These laws come under civil law. This is different from a criminal trial where the government is the one claiming the protection of rights. In civil wrongs, individuals raise disputes for enforcement of their rights.
When do Personal Injury Rules Apply?
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Accidents:
These happen usually in situations wherein someone has acted negligently, leading to harm or injury of another person. This includes car accidents, medical malpractices, slip and fall incidents, etc.
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Intentional Acts:
this is different from the aforementioned, wherein, injury and harm are not caused due to accident but when the intentional conduct causes harm to another person. These kinds of injuries can include assault and battery.
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Defective Products:
a manufacturer can be made liable for product liability if their products, varying from vehicle components, consumer items like edibles, medicines or any other product is defective, dangerous, and can cause harm. This leaves room for many lawsuits to be filed to claim compensation for all injuries that consumers have faced due to their product.
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Defamation:
This is when someone by way of libel or slander, spreads untrue information or rumors about a person who suffers financial loss due to such rumors. They can now claim personal injury from the person who spoke or wrote untrue information about them that caused a loss of reputation.
How do Personal injury Cases Happen?
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Certain acts by the Defendant injure the Plaintiff:
these acts can be anything from an intention to cause harm to just breaching a duty of care. It can be any bad act on part of the defendant.
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Breach of legal duty:
it is up to the plaintiff to determine whether the defendant has breached a legal duty. This specific breach of a legal duty is dependent on the situation and how the injury occurred. Like for example, doctors must adhere to a medical standard of care and therefore they have a legal duty to treat their patients in accordance with it.
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Settlements:
The point of personal injury is mainly to restore the position the plaintiff was in before the injury happened. Most of the time, this is done by way of compensation. Most settlements for such cases may happen outside of the court. An offer of monetary compensation is offered to the insured, in exchange for the promise that the lawsuit will not be pursued by the plaintiff. If the plaintiff agrees to do so, the case ends here.
In these kinds of cases, the statute of limitations plays an important role. Beyond a certain number of years, you cannot claim compensation for that injury in any State’s civil court. Contact a lawyer to know more!
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