3 Ideas That Should Be In Your Injury Law Vocabulary

It's normal for a personal injury attorney to toss a lot of concepts around when discussing a case. Some are things only a personal injury lawyer needs to understand, but there are others that you should appreciate too. These three injury law ideas need to be part of every claimant's vocabulary.

Damages

All of the compensation from a claim or suit is classified as a form of damages. This is the compensation assigned to the victim to make up for the harm that occurred in an accident. Presuming the claimant is successful, they should be able to recover damages to cover past, present, and projected medical expenses. Similarly, they can usually recover damages to cover pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and loss of the enjoyment of life. Also, lost wages are compensable.

Liability

Speaking in everyday terms, it can be surprising to think that responsibility is one with the concept of liability. However, responsible parties aren't always liable to pay damages in injury cases.

A liable party is an individual or organization that has a duty to prevent others from being harmed by their actions or omissions. For example, mechanics often post signs at their garages stating, "Only employees past this point." If a customer wanders past that point, the business would argue they're not liable if a piece of faulty equipment injured the customer. After all, the customer wasn't supposed to be there.

Liability is established in two ways. First, the law may explicitly assign liability. For example, most states have laws that apply strict liability to licensed contractors who work with explosives. Second, liability might arise from a reasonable expectation. Reasonable people expect stores to keep their floors dry where customers roam, for example.

Statute of Limitations

The law generally encourages people to file claims within a reasonable period. Fortunately, most states consider two to three years after an accident reasonable. However, you should always ask a personal injury lawyer from the state where you plan to file what the statutory limit is there.

Some states have longer statutes of limitations for specific harms. Chemical, radiological, or biological exposure usually fit this category. Sex abuse claims usually do too. Once more, ask a personal injury attorney what the rules are in your state.

When a personal injury lawyer submits an official demand package to the defendant or their insurer, this stops the clock on the statute of limitations. You can then spend more time negotiating with the defendant if necessary.