Suffering an injury can turn life upside down in an instant. Between medical bills, lost income and potentially life-changing impacts, injuries can bring financial and emotional hardship even years after they occur. Many people fail to realize that they may be entitled to damages or compensation after certain types of injuries. These situations underscore why hiring a personal injury lawyer is critical.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents may seem trivial, but they can easily cause broken bones, head trauma or other serious harm. Property owners are legally required to maintain safe conditions to prevent slip and falls. This means clearing snow and ice in winter, addressing loose steps or torn carpets and cleaning up liquid spills promptly. If you slipped on an unsafe surface and suffered injury, a personal injury lawyer can help prove the property owner’s negligence and obtain compensation.
Vehicle Crashes
The moments after a serious vehicle crash are chaotic and upsetting. Even if you don’t realize it at first, you may have sustained a disabling injury like a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord damage. An auto accident lawyer can represent your best interests, thoroughly investigate the crash circumstances, and pursue compensation from all liable parties like negligent drivers. This can alleviate the financial pressures victims face.
Medical Malpractice
Going to the doctor should improve health. But if you suffered harm due to a medical professional’s error or negligence, you may have a medical malpractice case. There are more than 20k medical malpractice cases filed each year, but because these cases are extremely complex, they require an accomplished attorney. After reviewing your records to establish malpractice, an attorney can value damages like pain and suffering, additional medical costs, and lost income.
Defective Products
When consumers are injured by defective products, product liability laws allow them to hold manufacturers accountable. Everything from faulty car parts to dangerous children’s toys can cause injuries. If you sustained harm from a defective product, a personal injury attorney can help determine if the product had a design flaw, failed to include hazard warnings, or malfunctioned. The lawyer can then seek damages through negotiation or litigation.
Assault
One in six women are sexually assaulted or raped every year in the US. Being assaulted, whether physically or sexually, may lead to physical harm coupled with emotional trauma. While the assailant should be criminally charged, many injury lawyers also pursue financial compensation from liability insurance policies or other sources. This may include homeowner’s insurance if the assault happened at a residence or employer policies if it occurred at work.
Dog Bites
Around 1,000 dog bite cases occur every day in the US. While these often seem minor initially, they can require plastic surgery or cause permanent nerve damage and disfigurement. Children attacked by dogs frequently develop emotional trauma and phobias. Most dog bite statutes impose strict liability on owners since dogs are considered dangerous animals. Lawyers prove bites resulted from owner negligence like failing to restrain dogs and identify all parties liable for damages.
Injuries in Public Places
Stores, restaurants, theaters, and other facilities open to the public shoulder responsibility for maintaining safe premises. Yet crowded or chaotic conditions, building disrepair, inadequate security, or poor cleaning habits frequently precipitate injuries. Personal injury attorneys establish how unsafe conditions like wet floors or poor lighting directly caused slip and falls or collisions. Successful claims account for medical costs, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Wrongful Death Situations
Losing a loved one prematurely in an accident is devastating enough without adding financial stress to the grief. Legal pros assist families in pursuing wrongful death claims stemming from vehicle collisions, medical malpractice, dangerous premises, and more. Compensation cannot replace cherished companionship, but it eases financial obligations so families can focus on healing.
Injuries create myriad challenges. Medical care, recuperation time, psychotherapy, and career impacts can derail lives for years post-accident. By demonstrating another party’s negligence overwhelmingly caused injuries, personal injury attorneys shift the long-term burden.
—
This post brought to you by Kristina Roopska
Image by Corey Ryan Hanson from Pixabay