Victims who suffer serious injuries in personal injury accidents don’t just suffer pain. They’re confronted with unexpected substantial and ongoing medical bills, lost time from work and the financial and emotional distress of being put through it all. When the accident is caused by the carelessness and negligence of somebody else, there might be legal options available for victims to be compensated for their damages. For about 10 years now, Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, APC has been aiding residents of Echo Park and the surrounding communities in their face-offs against insurance companies and corporations that have billions of worth of assets and resources but want to pay accident victims as little as possible or even nothing.
What is a Personal Injury?
In a legal context, the phrase “personal Injury” means that you were the victim of an accident that was caused by somebody else. Nearly all personal injury accidents are the result of carelessness and negligence. Regardless of the nature of the injuries suffered, the law of negligence contemplates a wide variety of accidents. Auto accidents are the most common. Here are a few examples of some others:
- Accidents involving trucks weighing up to 10,000 pounds.
- 18-wheeler or semi-trailer accidents.
- Public bus or school bus accidents.
- Motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accidents.
- Slip-and-falls or trip-and-falls.
- Municipal liability claims against the city or county.
- Dog attacks.
- Accidents resulting in wrongful death.
The Value of Your Case Depends on Your Damages
Personal injury victims are entitled to seek compensation for a wide variety of damages in connection with their injuries. The nature and extent of the victim’s injuries and how those injuries affected the individual’s life are taken into consideration in any settlement or award. Here are some major variables in the damages equation that we look at in placing a value range on a case:
- The past medical bills incurred in connection with the accident along with medical bills that are reasonably certain to be incurred in the future.
- Earnings lost in connection with the accident along with any earnings reasonably expected to be lost in the future.
- Any permanent disfigurement or disability.
- Past pain and suffering and any pain and suffering reasonably expected to be endured in the future.
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
- Other valuable damages in the event of a wrongful death.
The Comparative Negligence Issue
Sometimes, a person who is claiming personal injury might have been partially at fault for an accident. This allegation is often made in intersection accidents. When the issue is raised, the negligence of the parties must be apportioned, and a percentage of fault for the accident will be assigned to each party. The claimant might be determined to have been 15% at fault for the accident. On that basis, a case with a value of $100,000 would be reduced to $85,000. That’s known as the law of comparative negligence. If comparative negligence is raised, and the parties can’t settle the case, a jury will need to decide what percentage of negligence to assign to the claimant, if any at all.
Contact an Echo Park Personal Injury Lawyer Today
If your accident involved a motor vehicle, make sure that 911 is called and police investigate the crash. You might need paramedics at the scene too. In any other type of an accident, report it to a supervisor or manager. In any event, get to an emergency room immediately for an examination and treatment. Don’t delay in emergency treatment. You don’t want the opposing insurance company to argue that you weren’t injured to the extent claimed. Upon leaving the emergency room, contact the Echo Park personal injury lawyers at Quirk Accident & Injury Attorneys, APC for a free consultation and case review. You’ll have questions, and we’ll be pleased to answer them. After that, we can advise you on how we recommend you should proceed.
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