If you know or have heard about someone who has been compensated by an insurance company or a corporation that is personal injury law at work.
The simplest definition of personal injury law is the branch of civil law that helps victims of an accident find justice for losses suffered. Personal injury law is based on negligence except in product liability, which follows strict liability.
Negligence in Personal Injury
Negligence-based personal injury claims include car accidents, slips and falls, dog bites, workplace accidents, etc. Typically, the negligent party is liable for resulting injuries, meaning they must pay damages to the accident victims. Negligence has four main elements that must be fulfilled for the defendant to be held liable: duty of care, breach of duty position, and harm.
Duty of care is a reasonable expectation of care, while a breach of duty is a failure to live up to that expectation. For example, a driver on the road owes other drivers, motorcyclists, and cyclists a duty of care and thus must operate their vehicle reasonably. If they drive recklessly or while intoxicated, they can be said to be in breach of duty.
The causation element of negligence is established when the victim can draw a definite link between the breach of duty and an accident. Lastly, harm is established when the accident results in compensable damages.
Strict Liability
Product liability claims are based on strict liability where the victim does not need to prove negligence.
Instead, they only need two to prove that the defendant’s actions are the direct cause of the accident resulting in harm and that the actions were abnormally dangerous.
How Does Personal Injury Law Help Society?
Personal injury laws provide a legal means for victims of an accident caused by other parties to recover compensation for losses that include lost wages, medical expenses, emotional distress, pain, and suffering. Besides helping victims recover compensation, personal injury laws help promote accountability at the individual, business, and organizational levels by imposing consequences for conduct that results in harm.
For example, when found liable for an accident, an at-fault driver will have to compensate the victim. Often, the victim recovers compensation through the defendant’s lawyer. However, the defendant will also feel the impact of their actions through increased premiums or rejection by insurance companies if they are deemed too risky.
The same applies to two doctors who failed to exercise reasonable care, causing harm to patients. While affected patients recover compensation from the doctor’s insurance, every insurance claim comes with an increase in premiums, and the insurers could deny a doctor coverage if they deem them too risky. These consequences encourage responsible behavior and discourage negligence, helping make society much safer.
Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
“Personal injury law doesn’t guarantee that every legitimate claim filed by a victim will yield positive outcomes. You have to make your case and prove it through evidence, which may not be as easy for a layperson, and that is where a personal injury lawyer comes in,” says attorney Brandon Kinard of KGS Law PLLC.
It is also important to understand that personal injury law is broad. When picking a lawyer, look for a discipline or experience in similar cases. For example, if you want to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, you will need to work with a lawyer who has experience in medical malpractice lawsuits.