The Basics of Personal Injury Law
Personal injury law governs legal disputes that arise when one person suffers injury or harm from an accident where someone else is believed to be responsible for the incident. The injury or harm can be defined as physical but also as emotional and/or mental, and the purpose of the dispute is to allow the victim to recover the monetary cost of losses that are a direct result of that injury. While car accidents are some of the most common personal injury lawsuits, other cases are centered around product defects, slip-and-fall accidents, work injuries, exposure to dangerous substances, and medical malpractice. If you have been injured and are considering filing a suit, here’s some basic information to get you started.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Basically, when it comes to personal injury law, cases unfold in one of two ways: as a formal lawsuit or as an informal settlement. Formal personal injury cases involve a private individual filing a civil complaint against another person, business, corporation, or government agency. In an informal settlement, pre-trial negotiations take place, damages are determined, and both sides sign a written agreement in which they forego any further action. Damages that may be sought under personal injury law include medical and prescription costs, past and future loss of earnings, and any costs of home adaptation in the case of disability.
Laws That Govern Personal Injury Cases
Like other types of law, personal injury law isn’t rooted in statutes, but rather is based on prior court decisions and in treatises written by legal scholars. While some states have taken steps to summarize the development of personal injury law in written statutes, for practical purposes, court decisions remain the main source of the law. However, particularly in suits involving car accidents where a state vehicle code section was violated, statutes can be used to help establish fault.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Personal injury lawsuits mostly fall under the authority or jurisdiction of state courts where the incident or injury occurred and/or both the plaintiff and defendant reside. If only a small amount of damages are sought (usually between $2,000 and $5,000), then the case is filed in the court’s small claims division. However, if both parties live in different states, and the amount in question is more than $75,000, then the case may be filed under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. District Courts. Sometimes, personal injury lawsuits originally filed in a state court are moved to the federal courts.