How we can help
Our personal injury attorneys have helped victims injured by the negligence or intentional acts of others win the maximum compensation they deserve. Our firm has detailed knowledge of personal injury law and decades of courtroom experience. We have helped our clients recover millions of dollars in damages for costs of immediate and long-term medical care, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other expenses. We've helped families recover damages for the loss of a loved one. Our personal injury law firm invites you to contact us for a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation to review your case. If we accept your case, you pay nothing unless we win.
What is a Personal Injury?
Personal injury is the legal term for an injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. A personal injury lawsuit can be filed for harm caused by the negligence, recklessness, or intentional harm of another person or entity, such as a business.
You can bring a personal injury lawsuit for a wide range of injuries, including:
- Vehicle accidents (e.g. car, boat, truck, airplane, bus, train, motorcycle, and railway accidents)
- Defective or unsafe roadways (e.g. damaged roads, poorly designed roads, inadequate signage or lighting)
- Premises liability injuries (.e.g. slip-and-fall or tripping accidents, or unsafe or dangerous property conditions resulting in serious injury or death)
- Workplace accidents (.e.g. accidents caused by dangerous work conditions or unsafe equipment). Usually, workplace injuries are handled through Worker's Compensation which is an insurance program that provides wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment. In exchange, the employee waives their right to sue their employer in a personal injury lawsuit. However, there are some exceptions where an employee or contractor may bring a personal injury lawsuit.
- Unsafe or defective products (e.g. infant and child products, including toys, cribs, car seats and strollers; consumer goods, such as appliances and electronics; workplace tools, machinery or safety equipment)
- Unsafe or defective vehicles (e.g. defective or poorly designed air bags, seat belts, acceleration and braking systems, tires, etc.)
- Unsafe drugs or pharmaceuticals (.e.g. serious side effects or other harm). Such lawsuits often allege that the manufacturer of the drug did not adequately warn doctors and patients of the risks associated with the drug.
- Unsafe medical devices (e.g. hip/knee or other orthopedic implants, heart devices, catheters, etc.)
- Food poisoning from unsafe, contaminated, adulterated or recalled food products or dietary supplements resulting in serious illness or death(e.g. listeria, e.coli, botulism, lead, arsenic, etc.)
- Medical mistakes/medical malpractice (.e.g. surgical errors, failure to diagnose, medication errors, birth trauma, etc.)
- Elder abuse claims (.e.g. neglect or abuse of elderly patients in a hospital, nursing home, or assisted living facility)
- Exposure to toxic or harmful chemicals (e.g. mesothelioma or lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure; heart/liver/kidney/lung/brain/nervous system damages due to environmental pollution or exposure to toxins, such as lead, benzene, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, silica, solvents, and acids; carbon monoxide poisoning; exposure to potentially cancer causing pesticides, such as glyphosate/Round-up, etc.)
- Physical assaults (in addition to facing criminal liability, an assaulting party may also be held civilly liable for monetary damages. Unlawful assaults by governmental entities, such as police or law enforcement, may also qualify as a civil rights violation.)
In a personal injury lawsuit, the injured party is referred to as the plaintiff, and the party who is alleged to have caused the harm is referred to as the defendant. In some cases, the injury may be the result of intentional conduct by the defendant. However, in many cases, the injury is the result of the defendant's “negligence”. In order to establish a defendant's negligence, the following four basic elements must be proven: 1) Duty: the defendant had a duty to act reasonably under the circumstances; 2) Breach: the defendant breached that duty by acting or failing to act in a certain way; 3) Causation: the defendant's action or failure to act according to that duty actually resulted in the plaintiff's harm or injury, and 4) Harm: the plaintiff was harmed or injured as a result of the defendant's action.
Types of injuries
Generally, any type of physical harm, and in some cases emotional or mental harm, may be compensable in a personal injury lawsuit. In some cases, such injuries may be the result of a traumatic event such as a vehicle accident. In other instances, they may be the result of long or chronic exposure to a harmful drug, product, substance, or environmental or workplace condition.
Injuries include:
- Bone fractures/broken bones
- Organ damage (e.g. heart, lungs, kidney, liver, etc.)
- Brain damage (may be the result of acute physical trauma, called a TBI or traumatic brain injury, or due to chronic exposure to harmful substances).
- Spinal cord damage (including back pain, and partial or complete paralysis)
- Burn and/or electrocution injuries
- Amputations or loss of limbs
- Soft tissue damage (damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective tissue, fascia, etc.)
- Disfigurement
- Hearing loss (partial or complete)
- Blindness/loss of sight (partial or complete)
- Death (referred to as a wrongful death lawsuit)
- Mental and emotional injuries (sometimes referred to as “mental anguish” or “emotional distress”) may also be compensable, though they are more challenging to prove. Such claims typically involve persons who have witnessed or experienced an extremely traumatic event.
Compensation for Personal Injury Claims
Monetary compensation (typically referred to as “damages”) for successful personal injury claims depends on the severity of the injury. Injuries causing extreme physical pain, suffering, hardship, or loss of enjoyment of life will typically receive higher monetary judgment or settlement. Catastrophic injuries such as disfigurement, amputation, paralysis, or a brain or spinal injury, may also incur tremendous medical costs, and in some cases require a lifetime of medical care, physical therapy, and caregiver assistance. Furthermore, when a personal injury results in death, it may cause tremendous financial hardship for family members and loved ones.
Compensation awarded in personal injury cases is usually divided into two basic categories: compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Compensatory damages are monetary awards designed to make the injured party “whole” again, or in other words, restore them (to the extent possible) to the physical, financial, and mental position they were in before the accident occurred. Compensatory damages may include:
- Medical expenses, which include the costs of both past and future medical treatment and care. Future costs are typically estimated according to the injured party's life expectancy.
- Lost wages or earnings, including future earnings, if the injury negatively impacts one's ability to work.
- Repair or replacement of damaged property (e.g. vehicle damage)
- Pain and suffering, which includes compensation for actual physical pain, as well as compensation for emotional distress which is typically defined as the frustration, fear, anger and loss of enjoyment of life associated with suffering from a life-changing injury.
In the case of a wrongful death suit, compensatory damages may also include:
- Funeral expenses
- Pre-death medical care related to the injury
- Emotional distress of surviving family members
- Loss of financial contributions, services, or support from the deceased
- Loss of consortium, which generally means the loss of a spouse's or partner's companionship, moral support and/or intimacy.
Punitive Damages. In addition to compensatory damages, in special cases, a court may also award punitive damages. Punitive damages are not designed to compensate the victim but are rather additional monetary damages designed to punish the defendant. They are only awarded when the defendant's conduct is deemed especially egregious or reprehensible, especially when such conduct involves willful malicious conduct or fraud. In some cases, especially when the defendant is a wealthy, large business or corporation, such as an auto manufacturer or drug company, punitive damage awards can greatly exceed the amount of compensatory damages. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that punitive damages must be “reasonable and proportionate to the amount of harm to the plaintiff and to the general damages recovered” – consequently, courts have usually limited punitive damages to less than ten times the amount of compensatory damages awarded.
How we can help
Our personal injury attorneys have helped victims injured by the negligence or intentional acts of others win the maximum compensation they deserve. Our firm has detailed knowledge of personal injury law and decades of courtroom experience. We have helped our clients recover millions of dollars in damages for costs of immediate and long-term medical care, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other expenses. We've helped families recover damages for the loss of a loved one. Our personal injury law firm invites you to contact us for a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation to review your case. If we accept your case, you pay nothing unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I need to go to court?
The vast majority of cases usually reach a settlement or some other type of resolution before trial. According to government statistics, “Four percent to five percent of the personal injury cases in the United States go to trial. 95 percent to 96 percent of personal injury cases are settled pretrial.”
How long do such cases take to resolve?
Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question. How long a case will take before reaching a final resolution depends on numerous factors and is therefore difficult to predict. Some of the factors include the complexity of the case, the willingness of the parties to settle the matter, and the current caseload of the court assigned to the case. Some cases, especially those involving serious injury or complex matters, can take 2 or more years. This does not include additional years of appealing decisions.
Contact Taschner Law today for a Free Consultation and see how we can help!