The thing about accidents is that they are often preventable. Accidents tend to happen because someone was negligent, and that person can be held liable for the injuries they caused to others because of their negligence.
The circumstances around personal injury claims can vary greatly from case to case. Many cases involve accidents, failures to act, or intentional acts. You might experience a personal injury in countless ways, and you should talk about your specific circumstances with an attorney. Damages also vary based on your injuries and how they occurred. Many damages are based on money, while others are based on subjective experiences. Some plaintiffs are uninterested in damages and only want justice. We need evidence to support your injury claims and show the jury how the defendant caused your injuries. Evidence can be tricky and unpredictable, but having the right evidence can make or break a lawsuit.
To set up a time for a free review of your case, call (844) 876-4357 and discuss your injuries with our Birmingham personal injury lawyers at Howe Law.
Circumstances Surrounding Personal Injury Cases in Alabaster, AL
Personal injury law is very broad and encompasses many accidents and injuries. Different statutes and case law have been developed around different kinds of cases, and it is important to find a lawyer with experience in personal injury claims similar to yours. While personal injury claims can greatly differ from each other, certain common threads might run through different cases.
Accidents
Many personal injuries stem from various accidents. Common accident cases involve car crashes, workplace accidents, and slip and fall accidents. Accidents are unintentional, but that does not mean nobody is responsible. Often, accidents are traced back to someone’s negligent behavior.
Negligence involves four important legal elements that each must be established for a plaintiff to prove their case. These elements are duty, breach causation, and damages. Duty is the legal duty of care or obligation the defendant owed the plaintiff. The breach is whatever the defendant did to violate the duty. Causation explains how the defendant’s breach directly caused the accident. Damages are your injuries and losses from the accident.
Negligent behavior might be anything that goes against the duty of care and causes injuries and damages. As such, you should thoroughly discuss your case with a lawyer to determine the nature of the defendant’s negligence.
Default or Failure to Act
Defaults or failures to act may also lead to personal injuries. What is unique about these situations is that the defendant may be negligent not for anything they did but for things they should have done but did not.
One example is the failure to make property or premises safe for others. When a person invites guests into their home or onto property they own, that person has a duty to make sure the property is safe. If they fail to inspect the property for hazards or remove any known hazards, they can be held liable for injuries caused by the hazard. The property owner failed to do what they were legally obligated to: make their property safe for their guests.
Intentional Acts
Not all personal injuries are related to accidents. Many injuries come from the defendant’s intentional behavior. Intentional actions often lead to injuries, and the defendant might be held liable for an intentional tort.
A common example of an intentional tort in a personal injury claim is assault and battery. This involves a defendant purposefully placing their hands on the plaintiff or causing an instrument to physically contact them. A person might be liable for assault and battery for hitting, punching, or kicking another person or if they used a weapon or instrument to strike the plaintiff.
Intentional torts do not involve elements of negligence. Instead, our personal injury lawyers will help you prove the defendant’s intent. The defendant does not necessarily have to have intended to cause harm, but they must have intended to do the tortious act that caused your injuries.
Recoverable Damages in Alabaster, AL Personal Injury Cases
Your damages reflect the injuries, losses, and pain involved in your case. Damages are evaluated in different ways depending on how they impact your life. Compensatory damages include non-economic and economic injuries. You can pursue nominal damages if compensatory damages are unavailable or not important to you.
Non-Economic
When people consider how personal injuries have affected them, they often think of the pain and suffering they endured. Being injured in an accident is not easy to come to grips with. Many people struggle to adjust emotionally after an accident, especially if the accident was a serious near-death experience. Emotional damages can be especially severe in cases where the plaintiff was injured intentionally. Victims of violent crimes often struggle with fear, panic, and anxiety for a long time.
Damages for emotional or psychological trauma and distress are often evaluated by the impact on your life. The more these experiences have affected you, the more compensation you should be awarded.
Economic
Injuries also take a significant financial toll on plaintiffs. Perhaps the main focus in personal injury cases when assessing economic damages is medical bills. Whether you received relatively minor treatment or extensive care, you might have costly bills. If your injuries were really bad, you might need ongoing care for weeks, months, or indefinitely. In such cases, plaintiffs can rack up enormous medical debt. You can also claim the value of property that might have been damaged or destroyed in your accident. If you must take time away from work to recover, you should claim your lost income.
Nominal
Compensatory damages are not always available or might not be significant enough for the plaintiff to care about them. Even so, this does not mean the plaintiff has not suffered an injustice at the hands of the defendant. You can sue the defendant for personal injuries without pursuing compensatory damages.
If you win, you might be awarded nominal damages. Nominal damages often include a small sum of money, sometimes just a dollar. The money is more symbolic of your victory than it is actual compensation. Nominal damages might be of interest t plaintiffs who want justice but do not need any other compensation.
Call Our Alabaster, AL Personal Injury Attorneys for Assistance
To schedule an appointment for a free evaluation of your legal claims, call (844) 876-4357 and discuss your case with our personal injury lawyers at Howe Law.
