Personal Injury Legal Information

Getting Acquainted With Tort Law

Most personal injury cases fall within the larger classification known as Tort Law. Tort law describes scenarios involving a civil wrong that may be redressed by awarding damages.

Torts are usually civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a legal case. These wrongs lead to an injury or harm constituting the basis for a complaint by the the person who suffered harm. Even though a few torts are also criminal violations punishable with criminal penalties, the primary goal of tort law is to provide relief for the harms incurred and deter people from effectuating the same harms. The injured individual might sue for an injunction to avoid the continuation of the tortious behavior or for money damages.

Amongst the forms of compensation the injured person may receive include: loss of earnings capacity, pain and suffering, and reasonable medical expenditures. They consist of both present and future expected losses.

There are a lot of commonly accepted torts including trespass, assault, battery, negligence, products liability, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Torts belong to three general categories: intentional torts (e.g., intentionally striking a person); negligent torts (e.g., causing an accident by failing to comply with traffic laws); and strict liability torts(e.g., liability for producing and distributing defective goods). Intentional torts include those failures which the defendant knew or should have known would likely happen via their actions or inactions. Negligent torts occur when the defendant’s actions were unreasonably risky. Strict liability torts do not depend on the level of carelessness by the defendant, but are proven when a specific action causes damage.

There are also different aspects of tort law such as nuisance, defamation, invasion of privacy, and a classification of economic torts.

Tort law is the law of the states created by judges (common law) and by legislatures (statutory law). Many judges and states utilize the Restatement of Torts (2nd) as an influential guideline. The Restatement is a publication organized by the American Law Institute whose intention is to offer an organized record of the general law of the United States.

In the event that you think you might be the victim of a tort, talk to a local Hawaii accident attorney about your options. Typically, talking with a local Hawaii accident attorney is your best chance to protect your rights.

Choosing your law firm is the first step in pursuing a personal injury cause of action. In order to select a personal injury lawyer that is right for you, you need to find out what experience the prospective legal professional has handling cases that are factually similar to your injury situation.

When the time comes to meet with your attorney, you will be asked many detailed questions about the facts, and details surrounding your injury. You may be asked about what certain individuals said. You may be asked several medical questions. These questions are the attorney’s way of finding out about your likelihood in recovering money damages for your injury. An experienced personal injury lawyer will be able to make a fairly good estimation on both your chances of success and the amount to which you may be entitled. However, different attorneys may draw different opinions about your case’s prospects.

Timing is essential to personal injury legal causes of action. The time that someone has to legally recover for injuries is not that long. This limitation is usually articulated in your state’s legislative code or statutory law. This time period varies greatly depending on which state’s law applies to your case and the nature of the circumstances giving rise to your case. This issue should be addressed with your personal injury lawyer from the very beginning so you are both on the same page about the critical deadlines surrounding your case.

The first step to actually getting your personal injury lawsuit going, is usually the filing the filing of the complaint. The complaint is the legal document that notifies the court and the other parties that you are claiming damages do to the fault of someone else. Generally, filing of the complaint requires that a fee be paid to the court. The complaint must also be served to the other parties to the case. This means that the other parties must be properly notified that you have filed a lawsuit against them. Proper service is outlined in your court’s local rules and will be handled by your law firm.

Once the defendants have been put on notice of the lawsuit against them, they are given an opportunity to respond to the allegations made by the plaintiff in the complaint. The common responses to a complaint are an “Answer” and a “Motion To Dismiss” or “Motion For Summary Disposition”. Once the defendant has answered the complaint, and assuming that any motions for dismissal have been denied, the case moves into the discovery portion of the litigation. This is the time where the parties request an exchange of documents, and other evidence that may be used at the time of trial.

During and following discovery, the parties may begin discussing resolving the case through a settlement agreement. A settlement agreement usually involves the defendant paying the plaintiff a certain sum of money in exchange for the plaintiff’s dropping of the lawsuit. Generally, most personal injury cases are resolved through some form of settlement. However, if the parties cannot reach a settlement, the case continues to the trial phase. At trial both parties present their cases and the matter is resolved by a judge or a jury.

If you have been traumatically injured by the negligence of health care professionals: doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, pharmacists or others in Washington DC you need to talk to an knowledgeable DC injury lawyer now. A DC injury lawyer who handles serious injury cases can tell you your options.

An auto collision insurance claim typically commences with a collision. If you are involved in a car crash, there are some very imperative things you should do at the accident scene to the extent you can. At the first chance, you should report the crash with your insurance company and begin the procedure of filing a claim. After you have submitted your claim, an employee will either call, write or email you with regard to your claim. She will then look at your insurance contract to determine the types of coverage you have, deductibles, and any coverage limits that may affect your claim.

If your claim is uncomplicated, the representative may have you get a quote for repairs and then send you a payout. You will have to fill out some documents, but you may not have to visit the adjuster face to face. If your claim is more difficult, then the negotiation process will take more time.

In relatively complicated injury collision claims, representatives typically must do some investigation in order to sufficiently establish the insurance company’s liability. The agent will comb through your agreement and possibly contact witnesses to the crash, the other party to the collision, look at the police report if there is one, take pictures of the damages and scene of the crash and generally look into your medical expenses by sending out requests to your medical providers for information regarding your treatment. If you are seeking to have medical bills paid for, the agent will send you a medical authorization form for the release of your medical history.

Once the employee of the insurance company has investigated your claim and looked at your policy, he or she will likely send you a settlement offer. The settlement offer will tell you what the insurance company is willing to pay on your claim. This starting offer is likely on the low side. After all, the adjuster’s purpose is to save his or her employer money. But the employee of the insurance company also wants to close a claim and thus is usually allowed a settlement range that offers room for discussion.

If you are certain about how much you think your claim is worth, you can preempt the adjuster’s settlement offer with your own settlement letter. Your letter would outline fault, damages and ask for a specific amount to settle your claim.

If you’ve already received an opening offer from the adjuster, keep in mind that first offers for settlement are almost always on the low side. Then, unless you’re willing to take that first offer without an discussion, you will ultimately need to negotiate with the insurance company for a higher figure.

If your insurance claim is turned down in whole or in part, there could be many legitimate and reasonable reasons. Most have to do with limits in your policy. You can check the rejection letter against your coverage to see if the denial seems appropriate or not. If you still think your claim was unfairly turned down, don’t wait too long to take action. If you sit on your claim for too long, you may lose the right to sue in court to get your recovery. Discuss your scenario with an auto injury lawyer who will be able to help you.

If you’ve been the victim of a serious car accident in Baltimore, you need the advice of an experienced Baltimore injury lawyer. Talk to a local Baltimore injury lawyer about your options.

Great article by Michael Hiltzik on LA Times today about tort reforms role as health cares circus sideshow. As Hiltzik puts it:

“Insurance companies love it because the less money they pay out to plaintiffs, the more they get to keep. Republicans love it because trial lawyers give three-quarters of their political donations to Democrats. And Democrats pay it lip service because theyre afraid to look like lawyer lovers.

Couldnt have said it better myself. In almost every political discussion, the giant elephant is self-interest. No one wants to accept that we all argue from our own self-interests. The unfortunate problem is that too many of us are losing sight of whats actually good for us. Misdirection and slight-of-hand are big business in politics today.

That facts according to Hiltzik are:

“Medical liability isnt a big driver of health costs overall. Studdert estimates the cost of malpractice litigation, in court and through defensive medicine, at roughly 2% to 3% of all U.S. healthcare spending ” in other words, no more than $50 billion out of a total annual bill of $1.7 trillion. (Youll hear estimates as high as $200 billion from outfits like the American Medical Assn., which is the antithesis of an objective source.)”

The insurance lobby spends big money to convince Americans that frivolous medical malpractice cases are the reason they can’t afford health care. While there is no doubt that frivolous cases are filed every day, these cases account for very little of the health care problem in America today. Tort reform is one of those hot button topics that gets everybody fired up, but doesn’t really offer any solution to the greater problem. In fact, we are quick to forget that lawsuits are one of the main checks that drive quality health care in our country.

Tort reform has simply not solved the problems as promised. In almost every area that tort reform measures like damage caps have been implemented, there has been little to no change in health care costs. The real tragedy of tort reform is that plaintiff’s with legitimate claims go without help and without care for their serious medical needs.