5 November, 2021
Personal injury law covers a wide range of subjects. If you have suffered from an accident and you think you need a personal injury attorney from Reep law, you need to ensure the type of injury you are claiming for.
Different lawyers at the firm specialize in various personal injury cases. For example, there are attorneys experienced in motorcycle accidents, car accidents, workplace injuries, and the like.
It is essential to understand the type of injury you are claiming so that before your case, you are armed with the right information. Hiring a lawyer specializing in your area of injury will ensure that you are adequately represented and that your chances of winning your case are high. Here are some of the most common types of personal injury claims.
Road accident claims
A considerable percentage of personal injury claims are made from road accidents. Road accidents cover motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, passenger injury claims, pedestrian accident claims, and even horse riding accidents. However, almost 80% of road accident claims are made from car accidents.
When a road accident occurs, it is usually because of someone not following the rules of the road or is not driving carefully. A careless driver that causes an accident can be held financially responsible for injuries in an accident they caused.
Slip and fall accidents
Slip and fall injuries are another type of common personal injury claim. There are different slip and fall accidents, including falling in a building or wet floors at a shopping mall. Some severe injuries may also be caused by pedestrians falling over on the sidewalk; they could have tripped on uneven or wet surfaces.
Property owners are liable for ensuring the safety of their premises. This ensures any people on the property are safe and won’t be injured. Not all injuries that occur in a property may lead to liability.
All public places are required to ensure that it’s safe for people. If they fail to do so and someone falls and gets hurt as a hazard they allowed to exist or created, you can ask for compensation for the injury they caused you. Sometimes cases filed under this claim may be referred to as public liability cases.
Workplace accidents
Workplace accidents often happen, and the severity of injuries you may get include;
- Fatal accidents – when an employee falls from a high building, e.g., in a construction site.
- Back or spinal injuries may result from an employee falling over a wet surface or tripping over cables in a factory.
- Amputation which may be because of machine accidents
Employers own their staff a safe area to work in and try as much as possible to eliminate hazards at work. Ensure all employees are provided with safety clothing, safety equipment, and all safety precautions at work are observed.
If you are injured at work because of your employer's negligence in providing a safe place to work, you are entitled to sue and claim financial compensation.
Product liability claims
If you sustain injuries from using a defective product, you can sue for personal injury claims. It’s not only the defects in manufacturing that can lead to injuries alone. Lack of clear warnings, labels, or manuals of how to use the product can also cause injuries to a person if they don’t use it how it was intended.
Food, children's products, drugs, electronic devices, mechanical devices, medical devices, and other consumer products all fall under products that can cause injury to people if they are defective.
An experienced attorney can help you file a personal injury claim against individuals, companies, government agencies, or any other responsible party involved in the designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling the defective device or product. They will evaluate the extent of your injuries and the defective product to ensure you get maximum compensation.
Medical negligence claims
Medical negligence is a broad and complicated topic that will require the services of a knowledgeable attorney. If a doctor, clinician, or nurse provides treatment or gives you drugs that do not meet the required medical standards and you get injured as a result, then you can sue for medical malpractice or negligence.
Medical malpractice can be surgical errors, misdiagnoses, improper treatment, wrong medication, or birth injuries because of what the doctor did or did not do during the delivery. If you are pursuing a medical malpractice claim, what may be challenging to prove is the possibility of unfavorable medical outcomes. This means that just because you had a different result from what was expected doesn’t necessarily mean that medical negligence occurred.
That is why you need an experienced lawyer if you want to claim medical negligence or malpractice. Your attorney will help establish evidence of negligence of the doctor or inappropriate actions during treatment. The lawyer should help you aggressively seek justice and be able to get you maximum compensation.
What sort of compensation do you expect from a personal injury claim?
There are two main types of damages that fall under personal injury compensation. These are compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Compensatory damages mean the court will reimburse you for all the expenses associated with your injury. These include;
Special compensatory damages
- Medical expenses( past and future)
- Expenses for damage or property and repair
- Loss of irreplaceable items,
- Loss of wages
- Cost of medical care before the wrongful death
- Funeral and burial costs
- Expenses for lost or canceled trips
General compensatory damages
- Pain and suffering
- Inconvenience
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium/companionship
- Physical impairment/ disfigurement
- Loss of contribution in case of death
- The emotional distress of surviving members
Punitive damage punishes the party that caused you harm. If the court feels like the amount you have been awarded for compensatory damages is insufficient, they will add punitive damages to deter the defendant from making the same mistake again.
The chances of the court awarding you punitive damages will increase if the other party acted in maliciousness or gross negligence. Examples are cases such as assault, fraud, or extensive financial issues. Other instances in which the defendant is wealthy may also make the court award you punitive damages to make an example of the person or institution.
