For anyone who has been the victim of negligence and suffered some form of personal injury, they may qualify for compensation. The best way to determine if you have a good case is to consult with a personal injury attorney.
If you are trying to figure out if you may have a good case, there are a number of elements that should comprise your situation. A good personal injury case is one that contains liability, damages, and collectability, all of which are discussed below. It is unlikely that a positive outcome will result if any of these three items are missing from your lawsuit.
Timing is another important aspect as personal injury lawsuits generally have a deadline of six months to three years within which to be filed. If you believe you have a good case, donât wait to file it. Unfortunately, for many individuals who find themselves the victim of some kind of personal injury, the legal world and all of its jargon and intricacies can be a bit intimidating.
You will want to be sure that you find a lawyer who is not only sensitive to your situation but can empower you with their ability to explain the process every step of the way. According to the law firm of Davis Kelin, personal injury lawyers in New Mexico, sensitivity to what clients are going through is key. Your lawyer should explain the full process and empower you through the difficult and often emotional lawsuit.
Here is a detailed look into the three main elements that constitute a good personal injury case.
Liability
The term liability refers to an âactionâ that is committed by an individual or group that is wrong in the eyes of the law. If someone has been harmed because of someoneâs liability, that is basically the basis for a personal injury case. The challenge is that liability is one of the most challenging aspects to prove in a court of law, but often rests on whether someone was careless or “negligent.”
Put simply, the basic rule consists of the premise that if one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one. For instance, if someone runs a stop sign or if a company manufactures defective or harmful products.
Of course, the key is to prove such liability in court. In some cases, liability may be easier to prove than others, especially if one party has a history of negligent behavior, criminal records or arrest records. Online-informational-
Whether your case involves personal injury, medical malpractice or wrongful death, preserve any and all evidence since ultimately, the jury is going to decide your case by looking at the evidence.
Damages
In order for you to have a truly viable personal injury claim, you must prove that there was some sort of damage that resulted from the other personâs liability. Most personal injury attorneys will agree that if there are no damages, even if liability can be proven, it is not worth filing a lawsuit.
The goal is to make the victim whole, so proving damages is a vital component to the case. For example, the need for medical treatment or long-term medical care are examples of damages. Most states recognize a broad list of damages that range from monetary losses, mental and physical harm to legal and court costs.
Collectibility
The final determination to the viability of a personal injury case is collectibility. What this means exactly is whether the person or negligent party can actually make good on any future judgment. The judgment is the document that actually states that someone is owed money for the injuries that occurred as a result of the accident or event.
In some cases, the individual being sued does not have the money. On the flip side, if the party being sued is a large, financially robust corporation, the odds of collectibility are very high and add to the merit of a personal injury case.