As a victim of negligence in Shelbyville, you have the right to recovery and can file a personal injury lawsuit against an at-fault party.
When pursuing compensation for an accident in Shelbyville, victims must be aware of the filing deadline that applies to their case. In all likelihood, you will only have one year to bring your claim. In some instances, victims might receive tolling of the statute of limitations if they discovered their injuries at a later date. In addition to the filing deadline, you should learn of the recovery limits for injury victims. In Tennessee, non-economic damages are limited to $750,000, while economic damages are not limited. Punitive damages are capped and are only awarded in cases of gross negligence. When approaching your claim, it will be important to consider all parties who might have been involved in the accident and their level of blame so that everyone responsible for your injuries is held liable.
To get a free and confidential assessment of your case from our Shelbyville, TN personal injury lawyers, call Howe Law now at (844) 876-4357.
Filing Deadlines and Recovery Limits for Shelbyville, TN Personal Injury Claims
After an accident that causes you injury in Shelbyville, it will be important to familiarize yourself with the various deadlines and limits that pertain to your claim. For example, victims have to file lawsuits within a certain period of time in order to recover compensation. Regarding that compensation, it might be somewhat limited because of Tennessee’s caps on damages for injury victims.
Filing Deadlines
Perhaps the most important thing to know about personal injury lawsuits in Shelbyville is that they subject to a very short filing deadline. According to T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A), the statute of limitations to sue for an injury caused by negligence in Tennessee is one year. The statute of limitations is not a suggestion but a strictly enforced rule. Only in special cases, such as those involving delayed discovery, might the statute of limitations be tolled. In such instances, the date of accrual might differ. So, while you still might have one year to sue, the accrual date, or the date that the clock begins counting down on, might be the date you discovered your injuries, not the date you sustained them.
Receiving tolling for delayed discovery in your case is not guaranteed, as some accidents cause immediate injuries that cannot be ignored. Because one year is not a long time to sufficiently emotionally recover from an accident to pursue litigation, it is important to initiate the process as soon as possible after you are injured because of negligence in Shelbyville. When victims suffer serious injuries, filing quickly is even more important so that they can get compensation that covers their extensive damages.
Recovery Limits
There are also recovery limits for personal injury victims in Shelbyville. Recovery caps are only imposed on non-economic and punitive damages. Regarding economic damages, victims can recover full compensation for any and all financial losses if they submit sufficient proof of their damages. Non-economic damages, or those for a victim’s pain and suffering, are capped at $750,000, according to T.C.A. § 29-39-102(a)(2). Punitive damages, which are designed to punish defendants for acting with gross negligence, are capped at $500,000 or twice the amount of compensatory damages, whichever amount is greater, according to T.C.A. § 29-39-104(a)(5). Compensatory damages used to calculate punitive damages will include both your economic and non-economic damages.
These caps dictate the amounts juries can award plaintiffs in Shelbyville. Remember, these are the recovery limits, not the amount you are guaranteed to recover in your lawsuit. To recover any damages, you must prove that you have incurred them. This will require proof of your financial and emotional losses. Our personal injury lawyers accomplish this by organizing records of your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. Regarding victims’ recoveries of non-economic damages, testimony from mental health professionals, medical professionals, and victims themselves can be impactful.
Attributing Fault in a Shelbyville, TN Personal Injury Lawsuit
Properly determining and attributing fault in personal injury lawsuits is important so that victims can successfully prove that another party is responsible for their injuries, allowing them to recover damages.
Personal injury claims can vary dramatically from case to case. Sometimes, the negligent party’s identity is clear. Other times, cases are not so cut-and-dry. For example, suppose you were injured in an auto accident in Shelbyville, and the other driver fled the scene. In that case, our attorneys will investigate the crash and review any available information, such as the police report or surveillance footage, to identify who is to blame for your injuries. Or, if multiple parties were involved in an accident, we can use similar methods to properly assign fault among those parties.
Proving that another party caused your injuries will be important. Otherwise, your involvement in an accident might be called into question. Tennessee is a modified comparative fault state with a 50% bar. This means that, provided you are less than 50% at fault for your injuries, you can sue for damages. That said, your compensation will be reduced in proportion to your percentage of liability. Because this is not an option for injury victims in Shelbyville, our attorneys will work hard to gather evidence that shows the defendant is wholly liable for your damages and that you did not contribute to causing the accident in question.
This will require us to establish four crucial elements, the first being that the other party owed you a duty of care at the time of the accident. We must then prove that the defendant breached the duty of care they owed you, ultimately causing your injuries and subsequent damages in Shelbyville.
Call Our Shelbyville, TN Lawyers About Your Injury Claim Now
Call (844) 876-4357 to discuss your case for free with the personal injury lawyers of Howe Law.
