While it is never expected, a person could suffer a personal injury at any time. Car accidents are responsible for many personal injuries, but there is no shortage of ways a person could be injured.
Fortunately, you can get paid for the damages another person caused you to sustain. Victims can be compensated for financial and emotional losses, with no limits placed on the award to could receive. However, your compensatory award could be reduced if you were found to have contributed to your injuries.
For a free case assessment, contact our personal injury attorneys at Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 today.
Types of Personal Injury Cases that Our Athens, GA Attorneys Handle
If you were injured because someone else was negligent, our personal injury attorneys are here to assist you. Almost all personal injury cases arise from somebody else’s careless actions, which is the basis for your personal injury lawsuit. Intentional torts, or deliberate injuries, such as battery and assault, can also be the source of a personal injury Case. Our personal injury attorneys have extensive experience handling lawsuits in the following areas:
- Auto accidents
- Premises liability
- Slip and fall accidents
- Truck accidents
- Uber and Lyft accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Products liability
- Medical malpractice
- Construction site accidents
- Disability benefits claims
- Workers’ compensation claims
- Workplace accidents
- Wrongful death
Our office is also equipped to handle situations involving catastrophic or severe injuries, including traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Our personal injury attorneys can assist you in obtaining the compensation you require, no matter the kind of accident you were involved in.
Time Limit to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Athens, GA
The statute of limitations sets the time limit for filing a personal injury lawsuit in Athens. Typically, victims have up to two years from the accident date to file a lawsuit, according to O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.
Although there are few exceptions to the statute of limitations, children who suffered a personal injury are one of them. If the victim was under 18 years old at the time of the accident, the time limit for filing a lawsuit would not begin until the victim turns 18. Therefore, injured children can file their lawsuits until they reach 20 years old. To ensure that your lawsuit is filed on time, our personal injury lawyers can help you gather the evidence you need and prepare your complaint.
Damages You Could Recover in an Athens, GA Personal Injury Case
In Athens, pursuing a lawsuit for your injuries allows you to seek a wide range of financial compensation, known in Georgia as compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are composed of your economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are typically the foundation of personal injury cases, covering any financial losses sustained by the victim. However, compensation for non-economic damages is also available, reflecting the subjective impact of your injuries beyond just financial losses. Our personal injury attorneys can evaluate your case to determine what damages you can expect to collect for your damages.
Compensatory Damages
When considering recovering compensatory damages in a lawsuit, most people think of economic damages. An award for economic damages typically provides compensation for your medical expenses, including any future medical costs. Our team can use your medical records and doctors’ reports to prove these damages.
Additionally, you can claim any lost wages resulting from your injury. If you missed work due to your injuries or needed time off for appointments, these losses can be included in your lawsuit. If your injuries were severe, you may also be eligible for compensation for loss of future earning potential.
The good news is that, unlike other states, Georgia does not impose a limit on the amount of damages a plaintiff can be awarded in court. Under current Georgia law, whatever amount the jury decides is reasonable for a victim’s injuries is valid.
In addition to economic damages, you can also pursue non-economic damages in an Athens personal injury lawsuit, although these can be more difficult to prove. Non-economic damages, often referred to as pain and suffering, aim to compensate you for the subjective impact of your injuries on your life. This includes emotional distress, physical pain, and humiliation resulting from the accident.
Georgia also does not impose a limit on the amount of non-economic damages you can receive in a successful lawsuit. However, determining the value can be challenging, the court considers multiple factors. Our personal injury attorneys are available to review your case and ensure that you pursue all the damages available to you.
Evidence Used to Prove your Personal Injury Case in Athens, GA
To prove your Athens personal injury case, a variety of evidence must be gathered and submitted. The challenge often lays in obtaining the evidence since it can be in the hands of several parties. The following are some of the most commonly used forms of evidence to establish a personal injury lawsuit in Woburn:
- Accident reports
- Medical records
- Property damage estimates
- Physical evidence from the accident site
- Photographic evidence of injuries and the site
- Traffic light camera footage
- Security surveillance footage
- Dashcam footage
- Expert witness testimony
- Eyewitness testimony
Depending on the nature of your personal injury, other types of evidence might be required. Our personal injury attorneys can assist you in obtaining relevant evidence for your case, regardless of its origin.
How Fault is Determined in an Athens Personal Injury Case
Personal injury victims often ask if their actions could impact the compensation they could receive in a lawsuit. Fortunately, victims can still recover damages even if they were partially at fault for their injuries. Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence rule, which allows victims to recover compensation if they are not found to be 50% or more at fault for causing the accident that led to their injuries. However, if you are equally responsible or more at fault, you will not recover any compensation.
In case you are awarded damages but found to have contributed to the accident, your award will be reduced by the percentage you were determined at fault. For example, if you were awarded $100,000 but found to be 10% at fault, you would still recover $90,000 minus the $10,000 attributed to your fault. Our personal injury lawyers can assess the details of your case to determine where liability is likely to be placed and how best to proceed.
Our Athens, GA Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help
Call our personal injury attorneys at Howe Law at (844) 876-4357 today for a free case review.
