Personal Injury Cause of Actions: Everything You Need to Know
A personal injury cause of action is a set of facts that an injured party will bring as the basis for a lawsuit. Filing a personal injury cause of action will allow a plaintiff to seek monetary compensation for all injuries and property damage associated with the event that caused their injuries. A personal injury cause of action will not result in jail time and fines like criminal case would. Instead, a plaintiff will seek monetary compensation from the at-fault party or their insurance provider.
It’s true that no two causes of action are identical, those all causes of action share similarities, which is one reason why bringing on a skilled and experienced personal injury attorney, one who knows the ins and outs of these actions, is a good move. To know more about what causes of action are and how they are filed, read on.
How to Establish a Solid Cause of Action
Following an accident that results in you sustaining injuries, one of the first things you should do is file a cause of action against the party you believe is at fault for the accident. But you can’t file a cause of action without first proving you have grounds for doing so. Here are the elements that must be proven for a cause of action to be successfully.
- The defendant owed you a duty of care.
- The duty the defendant owed you was breached.
- Because the defendant breached their duty, you got injured.
- The injuries and damage sustained are measurable and redressable.
If you can prove all four elements, you’ll be able to pursue monetary compensation from the person who you believe is at fault for the event which led to you getting injured. But if you can’t establish this, you won’t be able to file a suit.
In everyday life, individuals have duties to one another. For example, if you’re a driver on the road, you have a duty to operate safely so you don’t harm others. Or, if you’re a property owner, you have a duty to make sure your property is safe for those who visit it. In some cases, proving that someone breached a duty they had is easy, and other times it’s challenging.
Did the Defendant Breach a Duty of Care?
Once it’s been established that the defendant had a duty to uphold, it must be proven that the defendant failed to uphold this duty. There are a variety of reasons why individuals who have duties to uphold fail to do so. They may have been careless, and negligence caused them to be unable to provide the duty. Recklessness is another common reason why individuals don’t uphold the duties they have, or failing to uphold a duty can be intentional.
Once these two elements have been proven, the next step is linking your injuries to them. An individual may fail to uphold a duty they have to you, but if it doesn’t injure you, you can’t be compensated for this. And the injuries must be redressable. For example, if you have bodily injuries, then you should have medical expenses that could be offset by awarded damages. Same thing goes for property damage. In short, there are many kinds of injury-related expenses that individuals can seek compensation for, including lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and loss of life enjoyment.
What Are Common Personal Injury Causes of Action?
Personal injury is a broad area of law, which explains why there are a wide variety of personal injury causes of action. One common cause of action has to do with car accidents. If a motorist is injured because of another motorist’s negligence, the injured party will file a cause of action later on so they can see compensation for injuries and damages related to the accident.
It’s also common for personal injury causes of action to be centered around slip and fall accidents. A property owner has a duty to keep their property safe, and if they fail to do this, and you were injured because of this, you can seek appropriate damages. You can also file a medical malpractice cause of action; perhaps the surgeon made a critical error and this resulted in you being injured. There are other kinds of personal injury causes of action, including those which have to do with defective products, pedestrian and bike accidents, and events where fraud or violence are also factors.
How to Know Which Cause of Action Will Be Best to Pursue
Choosing the right cause of action is critical. After all, if you can’t bring a successful cause of action, you won’t be able to seek damages. This is one reason why bringing on a personal injury lawyer is a good move. They’ll know which cause of action is worth pursuing, and they’ll take a variety of factors into account before filing a cause of action. Plus, a personal injury lawyer will be able to determine where fault rests, and once they do they can hold all relevant parties accountable.
How Will a Personal Injury Lawyer Help With Establishing Cause of Action?
It’s best to have a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer file a cause of action for you after an event that resulted in you getting injured. They’ll know how to properly file one of these, and they’ll make sure no important steps are missed. They’ll also make sure that the cause of action is filed before the time allowed by the applicable statute of limitations expires. And generally, a personal injury lawyer will take care of the nitty-gritty of the claim process, including evidence gathering and negotiating, to ensure you have a stress-free claim process.
For awhile, it was hard to find a qualified personal injury attorney. No more! We’ve simplified the process, and now all you have to do is call 1-800-HURT-511 to be connected with a sought-after, experienced, and multilingual personal injury attorney. The attorneys we work with have secured over $1 billion for their clients, and they’ve had success bringing cases like the one you wish to bring.
Call 1-800-HURT-511 now, as you only have so much time to file a claim.