Personal injury and wrongful death claims and lawsuits arise when people are injured or killed by carelessness or another person or corporation. When someone is determined to be legally responsible for injuring someone else, they or their insurance company are responsible for the damages and harms caused.
Damages in personal injury cases are meant to put an injured person back in the position he or she was in before being injured. The types of damages often recovered in wrongful death and personal injury cases include past and future medical bills, past and future lost wages and loss of earning potential, pain, suffering, disability and scarring, and loss of consortium, or the monetary value of the loss of the love and relationship caused by a family members death. In some cases, punitive damages are also awarded in these lawsuits, where the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly. Punitive damages are intended to punish wrongdoers and prevent them from harming others.
Although no amount of money can bring a loved one back, the law allows recovery of compensation in an effort to ensure that the dependents, children and loved ones left behind are cared for and made whole.
If you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury due to the negligence or wrongdoing of someone else, or if your family has lost a loved one due to the fault of another, you may have a claim against that person, or their insurance company, for your injuries. Compensation for your claim may include payment for medical bills, lost wages, physical and emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability or scarring, and possibly property damage.
Information and evidence such as medical records, accident or police reports, and information about the wrongdoer and possible witnesses is crucial to successfully pursuing a claim. This evidence can be lost, wrongdoers can move, and witnesses can forget. For those reasons, fast action must be taken.