According to the National Center for Health Statistics, physician offices see about 39.5 million visits for unintentional injuries every year. These injuries can either be mild or severe cases leading to disability and even death.
There are several common types of personal injury cases that people report due to negligence and breaches in a duty of care.
If you experience injury or damage but aren’t sure whether you are within your rights to seek a lawsuit, read our comprehensive personal injury guide.
Below, we explain how personal injury lawsuits work and list the six most common types of personal injury cases.
What Is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Personal injury cases (or “tort” laws) are disputes settled in a legal setting in which one person claims an injury due to someone else’s act of negligence.
They sue the accused party and make them responsible for causing another person harm.
These laws serve the purpose of making they hold citizens accountable for their negligence and that the injured party finds financial relief from their injuries or damages.
How Do Personal Injury Cases Work?
Every case will be different depending on how, when, and where the plaintiff is injured. The standard procedure of a personal injury case is:
- Plaintiff is injured: Something occurs where the plaintiff becomes injured or suffers damages
- Breached Tort Laws: The accused party have breached the tort laws
- Settlement: If they prove injuries, then there will be talks of the settlement.
For a claim to go through, you need to prove one (or multiple) tort law elements are in violation.
The four elements of tort law are:
- Duty of care
- Breaching the duty of care
- Causation of injury
- Damage or injury
These tort laws are pivotal to backing your claim. If you cannot prove your injuries exist or pinpoint the exact cause of your injuries, then they will dispose your settlement in court.
What Is Negligence?
Negligence happens when a person doesn’t live up to societal standards regarding the duty of care. People who commit acts of negligence put others in harm’s way or at risk of serious injury, even death.
For personal injury claims to be serious, the defendant must be proven to have committed an act of negligence. A court would assess their actions concerning others, more responsible people.
What Is a Statute of Limitations?
The statute of limitations is essentially a time limit to file claims. The Statute of Limitations exists so plaintiffs cannot sue after a certain number of days.
Usually, the statute of limitations begins:
- When the injury occurred
- When the injury was discovered
- When the injury may have been discovered if the proper inspection had taken place
Therefore, if you believe you will file a personal injury lawsuit, you should do so immediately. If you wait, you may be too late for your claim to go through.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases
Though personal injury cases abound, seven types of cases are commonly reported in the U.S. These six examples are the claims taking up the most litigation in our court system.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is a violation of care, or injury, due to negligence of a hospital, clinic, or health care worker.
Examples of medical malpractice negligence are:
- Incorrect treatment
- Incorrect test results
- Incorrect diagnosis
- Incorrect aftercare
- Incorrect health management
Doctors, hospitals, and care facilities provide a “standard of care” to all patients. By law, requirements state health care institutions and professionals give the best, most accurate form of care to their patients.
If negligent care results in injury, misinformation, or death of a patient, that is medical malpractice.
Road Accidents
Six million car accidents happen every year, leading to a high amount of personal injury cases for road fatalities and injuries.
If you are in a car accident, the first things you do are:
- Get the other driver’s license number
- Get the other driver’s information
- Call insurance company
- Get a police report
- Take pictures of damage or injuries
By gathering this information, you ensure proof the accident was the other driver’s fault and not your own. You will also have a substantial amount of information to prove the causation of injuries.
Slip and Falls
Falls result in over 8 million trips to the hospital every year. If a company has not put up the appropriate signs or markers (such as a “wet floor” sign), and you slip and fall on the premise, you could sue for compensation.
Slip and falls can be tricky, though. People attempt to commit fraud by falsely claiming they have fallen to rake in a hefty amount of money.
Due to this fact, accident attorneys will have to prove the causation of injury and proof of injury.
Dog Bites
If you own a dog and that dog bites or mauls someone, they can sue you. Luckily, your home owner’s insurance should cover these costs.
However, the downside to dog bite reports can be dire. While your insurance will cover costs, the law dictates they implement an inspection.
If your dog is a threat, they take it away, possibly for euthanasia.
Product Injuries
For a product to cause an injury, it has to be toxic or cause sickness due to the manufacturer’s negligence. The product should have an incorrect warning label, product misinformation, or false sell-by date to prove negligence.
Defamation of Character
Defamation happens when someone tries to cause malicious harm to your character. A person can slander, either oral or written falls under the term defamation.
To file a defamation claim, you will need to prove the statement(s) is false, causes harm to your character and well being, and has “reckless regard.”.
Hiring an Accident Attorney
If you have been a victim in any of the above, it may be time to hire an accident attorney. At Boy Meets Fire, we know that going through a lawsuit can be stressful and time-consuming.
That’s why we have compiled helpful blog posts to give you expert tips that help during the process. Hopefully, this compiled list of types of personal injury cases allows you to assess whether you fall into one of these categories.
To read more on topics like this, check out the Lifestyle category
Hey guys it’s Andrew! I am a writer, a blogger, and a curious human being full of ideas. I remember as a teenager going to my local store to grab a freshly published magazine about the ins and outs of the online business world.
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