you might be eligible for compensation
Personal injury is a broad legal term that encompasses a wide variety of physical, cognitive, and emotional injuries resulting from another party’s negligence. The most common forms of personal injury claims include those resulting from auto accidents, work accidents, or defective products.
In most instances, legal disputes regarding a personal injury claim can be resolved by a settlement. However, if the two parties are unable to achieve a fair and equitable settlement, a lawsuit can be filed and executed through civil court proceedings presided over by a judge.
In order to hold the offending party responsible for their actions that led to the injury in question, the plaintiff must prove negligence by establishing four distinct elements:
- Duty of Care: An individual or entity is obligated to act with a “reasonable” degree of care to avoid causing harm to another.
- Breach of Duty: This occurs when the entity or individual either creates or allows a potentially dangerous scenario that exceeds the standard level of risk encountered throughout our day-to-day lives.
- Causation: Breach of duty proves negligence, but the offending party will often claim that their negligence was not the primary cause of your injury. Once you have established negligence, you must further prove that this negligence resulted in your injuries.
- Damages: Once the previous three elements have been determined, negotiating a settlement that provides for optimal rewards for damages (physical, cognitive, and emotional injuries as well as property damage or lost income) becomes the main point of contention.