Types of Personal Injury Claims

There are many different types of personal injury claims. You can file a claim if a third party was negligent in causing an injury to you. Whether you were hit by a vehicle or hit by a pedestrian, your lawyer can help you get compensation for the damages you sustained. Here are some of the most common types of cases and how they differ. Personal injury laws vary in each state. Personal injury claims can be filed in states ranging from Texas to New York.

Negligence

In personal injury law, negligence refers to a person’s failure to take reasonable care in causing an accident. Generally, this duty applies to a person of legal age, as long as they aren’t reckless. This duty can be defined as a person’s responsibility to keep others safe, and it can include not paying attention to a situation until it becomes unsafe. Negligence in personal injury cases is a common cause of injury.

Negligent conduct

Negligent conduct in personal injury law refers to conduct that breaches a duty owed to someone. This conduct must be inadvertent or negligent. There must be a connection between the negligent act and the harm caused by the act. In the case of car accidents, the defendant can be found negligent if they failed to properly maintain their vehicle and/or if they texted while driving. Likewise, a property owner can be found negligent if they failed to repair a faulty staircase.

Intentional conduct

Intentional conduct is the legal term used to describe wrongful behavior that was not done accidentally. Intentional conduct includes acts such as sexual assault, physical abuse, fraud, and misrepresentation. A qualified attorney can help you establish the full extent of your financial losses in such cases. If you were injured due to the intentional conduct of another person, your attorney can file a claim on your behalf. You can seek compensation for both your physical and emotional suffering. More about this here: https://www.mcwhirterlaw.com/ 

General damages

In the case of a personal injury, general damages are awarded if the person responsible for the accident was negligent. General damages are not an exact science and are based on the facts of the case. A personal injury attorney will consider evidence pertaining to the accident and the injuries suffered by the plaintiff in order to convince a jury to award higher compensation. The lawyer may also seek to increase general damages in other ways. Below are some examples of how general damages in personal injury law are calculated.

Punitive damages

In some cases, punitive damages can help compensate victims for their injuries. For example, in Liebeck v. McDonald’s, an elderly woman suffered third-degree burns when a hot coffee spilled on her legs. She spent eight days in the hospital and underwent skin grafts. Over the next two years, she spent nearly half her life in a wheelchair. Today, punitive damages are a viable option for victims of negligent or intentional acts.