What Is A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

If you suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to file a lawsuit to recover compensation (generally referred to as damages) for your medical expenses and lost wages.

Plus, you can also recover non-economic damages for a variety of things, such as loss of enjoyment of life or pain and suffering. 

Since civil lawsuits can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the legal field, we decided to clarify all the main points related to a personal injury lawsuit. 

What is the definition of personal injury?

Personal injury is a legal term that describes bodily or psychological injury. It is often used in civil suits to differentiate injuries from cases of destruction of property. A personal injury lawsuit is a tort lawsuit where the plaintiff has suffered harm due to another party’s negligence. 

If someone else is at fault for your injury, you’re legally entitled to file a suit to recover the damages. 

Once you file a complaint against another party (an individual, business, or municipality), you argue that they acted negligently, which led to your injuries. Most cases don’t go to trial and are instead settled out of court. Typically, the two parties meet with their attorneys present and attempt to negotiate a settlement. 

If both parties agree, they'll sign an agreement that ensures neither of them will take further legal action. You can look at it as the plaintiff agreeing on a set amount of money in exchange for ending the lawsuit. 

If the parties don’t agree to a settlement, the trial will proceed and the case will be decided in front of a jury. The burden of proof is relatively loose in a personal injury lawsuit, so you only need to prove that it’s more likely than not that the other party acted negligently. 

What are the damages in a personal injury lawsuit?

The funds awarded in a lawsuit are referred to as damages. Economic damages are easy to quantify and include expenses such as medical bills, lost wages, transportation, property damage, transportation to medical appointments, etc. 

Determining an appropriate amount of economic damages is straightforward as you only need to record all the expenses related to the injury. This also includes keeping track of how much time you missed at work and requesting documentation about it from your employer.

With non-economic damages, it’s a bit more challenging as they’re difficult to accurately define. Non-economic damages compensate you for loss of enjoyment of life or lost capacity. To put it differently, they account for changes in your life resulting from the injuries you suffered in the accident. 

For instance, if you were able-bodied before the event in question but are now dealing with a permanent injury that prevents you from performing activities you did in the past, you can recover damages. This is just one example of what kinds of losses non-economic damages cover. 

How much money will you be rewarded in your personal injury lawsuit?

It depends. The biggest factor here is permanency. Most personal injury cases are difficult and traumatic, but if your life was irreversibly altered as a result of someone else’s negligence, you’ll receive a higher amount of compensation. 

For example, if you fully recover after six months of physical therapy, you can’t expect to receive much in terms of non-economic damages. On the other hand, if you can’t do the same job anymore and you suffer chronic pain for the rest of your life, you’ll be compensated accordingly. 

What is the statute of limitations in personal injury?

You have limited time to file the lawsuit. This is referred to as the statute of limitations and after it expires, you lose your right to take legal action. Other states are pretty generous with their statute of limitations, but in Florida, it’s just two years. 

We recommend hiring an attorney as soon as possible. Depending on the circumstances, it may take a while to fully investigate the event and acquire the evidence so the sooner you take action, the better. 

What type of evidence do you need?

Regardless of whether you think a piece of evidence is significant, save it. If possible, take notes right after your accident. Memory is often fickle and writing down the facts helps you solidify the important details.

Jot down everything you remember about the event and explain in detail how you feel. Describe the injuries you suffered and take notes on your recovery. All of these may help you paint the complete picture of what you went through to the jury. 

You should also take good care of the physical evidence. Save the clothes you were wearing at the time and take photos of your injury while it’s still fresh. In addition, take photos of the scene and any items that were damaged in the accident. 

Your attorney will also help you substantiate your testimony by obtaining video surveillance and taking witness statements. Similarly, the attorney can track down the police records and obtain any other important documents.

In conclusion, even the tiniest details can help you win and maximize your settlement and damages. 

Fight for your rights!

Even if your personal injury lawsuit goes to trial, there’s still a chance that you’ll receive a settlement.

Many personal injury firms are only interested in settling the case off the court. Granted, a settlement is preferable as it’s faster, but you need someone who can support you in litigation if needed. 

Generally, insurance companies respect attorneys who have a track record of representing clients in court. Because of this, they’ll be more open to offering them a fair settlement to avoid expensive litigation. 

Here at the Law Offices of RITE, we are ready to fight alongside you until the bitter end. We won’t back down out of fear of going to court - rather, we’ll use all our expertise and resources to aggressively advocate for you until we recover the money needed to make you whole again. 

Call (904) 500-RITE (7483) or send us an email at info@rite4justice.com to schedule a free case review.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.