For individuals that have recently been in an accident of some type, where some type of bodily injury has occurred, the extent of their injuries may not make it possible for them to be able to function to a normal capacity. It is for this reason that they may seek to have some type of compensation that can accommodate them when they are not able to work. There will also be medical bills that they will have to pay for, all of which may be far beyond their reach, especially without a regular paycheck coming in. This is why so many people turn to St. Louis injury lawyer who are experts in this field, professionals that are capable of helping people that are in these types of circumstances and do not know what to do. So that you know what to expect, if this is a situation that you are in, let’s take a look at personal injury law.
An Overview Of Personal Injury Law
What you should understand first of all is that personal injury is not simply delegated to physical problems that you may be dealing with. Personal injury also accounts for mental or emotional problems that may have developed after the incident has occurred. It can also apply to different types of personal property that you own that were damaged, and for which you would like to receive some type of compensation for. Therefore, the term personal injury does not only pertain to the injured person proper, but damages that may have been done to things that they own as a result of intentional actions, recklessness, negligence and carelessness of another human being.
Three Types Of Injury Actions
There are three types of actions, or what would be more properly construed as three parts, that must be considered when it comes to personal injury. There is a legal duty between the person that has caused the damage, otherwise known as the defendant, and the person that is injured. The injured party, the plaintiff, will be filing the lawsuit because of what is called a breach of duty. If this legal duty has been breached, and damage has occurred, all three of these elements create what is called a personal injury. Because the law says that no one person or people may harm another, this means that those that have done wrong, intentional or not, are open to some form of liability. This could be anything from someone trying to harm you, or an accident that happened such as someone not paying attention while they are driving, all of which can lead to a personal injury lawsuit where the injured party can receive some type of compensation.
Elements of Negligence
The next thing to address are what are called elements of negligence which can occur as a result of nursing home abuse, professional malpractice, premises liability and motor vehicle accidents to name a few. The injuries that most people endure have to do with some type of reckless or negligent conduct by another person, although sometimes it is intentionally done. What a lawyer will have to do, or you will have to do on your own, is to prove five specific things. Referring back to the injury actions above, the defendants duty of care, the defendants breach of that duty, the actual causation, proximate causation and actual damages all need to be determined. This is something that is nearly impossible for the average person to properly present within a court setting, which is why finding a lawyer is what most people do. But as an individual, there are a couple of things that you definitely can accomplish on your own, things that must be done in order to have a chance at winning your case.
What To Do If You Are Injured
Once the injury has occurred, it is important to get an immediate medical treatment. This is not only for your personal health and safety, but so that you have a documented account of what has occurred. It is one thing to say that you are injured, and quite another to have a medical professional clearly state in documentation that something definitely has happened to you. Once you have this evidence, you can then pursue a course of action that will involve using a lawyer that can find witnesses that can substantiate what occurred, helping you to develop your case. It’s also good to have a police account of what has happened, especially with car accidents. Once they have written a report, this can also be submitted for evidence along with your doctors personal injury report. Where most people fail to help themselves is not getting these two things done. They might wait a couple days, and during that time their injuries could get worse, and the viability of their argument can diminish, something that could lead to losing the case.
Finding A Personal Injury Lawyer
The final step of the process is to seek legal counsel of some sort, an individual or law firm that is experienced with tort law. This particular branch of law is designed to help those that have been wrongly injured, and can lead to compensation of some sort that can help for both physical and emotional injuries. It should be stated that emotional duress that is caused by an incident is much harder to prove unless there is some form of psychological information provided by a trained psychologist or psychiatrist. Those that are physically injured, however, are almost always are indeed some form of compensation, at the very least to compensate them for time lost at work, damages done to personal property and of course paying for hospital bills that could be quite large.
With this basic overview of how personal injury law works, if you are facing a situation where you are unable to function because of an injury that you sustained while driving, at work, or due to the negligence of someone in a random situation, you should certainly get treated medically, report the incident to the police if necessary, and find a personal injury lawyer that can look at your case and use the information that you will gather right after the event in order to help you achieve some type of settlement for your injuries.