Personal injury lawyers have a wide variety of specialties and can cover a wide variety of cases. Each year thousands of personal injury cases are filed, and these cases take on many different forms. There are a few consistent points that are true for all personal injury cases, however. To win a personal injury claim, a defendant has to prove two things. 1. That the injury was caused by the negligence of a second party, and 2. That the injury has caused significant losses for the defendant.
So, what are the most common types of personal injury cases that injury attorneys tend to take on?
Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice claims are filed when a patient is hurt due to the negligence of a medical provider. These injuries are not generally caused by usual risks associated with surgeries and other procedures, but by the negligent actions of a medical professional. For example, if a nurse leaves a sponge inside of a patient during a surgery, and that sponge causes an infection, that infection was caused by medical negligence. As Florence AL personal injury attorney Harvey Morris explains, in order to win a medical malpractice claim, you have to show that the medical professional was indeed negligent, and this is most often done by hiring an expert medical witness to testify on your behalf.
Car Accident Claims
Car accident claims are filed when a driver is hurt in a car crash due to the negligence of the other driver. For example, if someone suffers a spinal injury after being hit by a drunk driver, the spinal injury occurred because of the other driver’s negligent act of driving while intoxicated. In cases like these, the victim can file a car accident claim to help cover medical bills, loss of wages, and other losses caused by the car crash. As John Demas, an injury attorney in Sacramento explains, the purpose of a car accident claim is to help the victim cover their losses while they recover from their injuries. Trucking accident claims can also fall under this category. However, as Howard Spiva, a trucking accident injury lawyer in Georgia explains, truck accident claims tend to be more complicated, since the injured party may be seeking compensation from the truck driver, the trucking company, or the truck manufacturer, depending on the cause of the crash.
Product Liability Claims
Product liability claims can be filed when a person is injured by a defective product at no fault of their own. The injury has to be due to some sort of negligence on the part of the manufacturer, and the victim has to show that the injury has caused significant personal losses in order for a product liability claim to be successful.
Veterans Disability Claims
When a veteran files a claim with the VA, their claim can be denied, leaving them without coverage for medical issues. If this occurs, a veteran can hire a personal injury attorney to help with appealing the VA decision. John Berry, an attorney who specializes in the process of appealing veterans disability cases explains that often, when a VA claim is denied, it is due to a lack of evidence. A good personal injury lawyer can gather the evidence needed to successfully appeal a claim.
Workers’ Compensation Claims
Workers’ compensation claims can generally be filed without legal help. However, if an injured worker goes through the workers’ compensation process and ends up having a valid claim denied, legal help may be needed. As David Teddy, a workers’ compensation disability attorney in Shelby NC explains, expert attorneys know how to successfully appeal a denied claim and can help you gather more evidence and make your case in a way that would be difficult to do without experience and legal knowledge.
These are just a few of the most common types of personal injury claims that personal injury attorneys tend to handle. There are many others as well, since really any case where someone is seeking compensation for an injury due to someone else’s negligence can be considered a personal injury case. If you’ve been badly hurt at no fault of your own, you may want to get a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer yourself, to see if you are entitled to compensation for your losses.