W&L Team If you are wondering “What kind of cases do personal injury lawyers handle?” read on. Were you injured at the hands of someone else? Or because another person’s actions — or inactions — led to your injury? If so, you may be able to sue for compensation.
Introduction
Any average person goes about their day. Then, suddenly, something happens and it changes everything:
- You step into a hole in the sidewalk and break your ankle.
- You’re walking your dog when a car hits you.
- You’re leaning against a balcony that gives way and you suffer a severe fall.
- You’re in a bar when a fight breaks out and you are cut on the face by a broken glass.
- You’re in the bathroom at a restaurant when a fire starts in the building.
- You trip on a broken step when leaving the subway.
Any one of these could be grounds for a personal injury lawsuit claim.
Overview of Personal Injury Law
Personal injury can refer to all kinds of personal harm. In most cases, your body is hurt. In addition to physical pain, you may be suffering emotionally. (1)
You can bring a personal injury claim on the basis of one of these three reasons: (2)
- Negligence: This means a person or business did not take reasonable care to prevent your accident.
- Strict liability: Liability “holds a defendant liable for committing an action.”
- Intentional wrongs: These are actions done on purpose by another person.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases
Some accidents happen more often than others and may even be life-threatening or life-altering. Each case comes with its own challenges. Sometimes cars or companies are involved, but most personal injuries are caused by someone else’s negligence.
These are some common cases:
- Wrongful death: Driver negligence, accidents, and defective medical devices can all lead to severe injury or death.
- Automobile accidents: The key to winning a legal case involving a car accident is often proving the other driver was negligent. This can include if you were a pedestrian and hit by a vehicle.
- Workplace accidents: You can suffer severe injury at construction sites and job sites when doing electrical work, operating heavy machinery, or working from heights.
- Slip and fall accidents: Slipping and falling can occur just about anywhere — your workplace, restaurants, shopping malls, parking lots, and schools.
- Premise liability: Owners — for homes and businesses — are responsible for keeping their property safe.
- Product liability: Thousands of people get hurt by using products they don’t know are defective or dangerous products. Companies manufacturing them, or asking you to use these products, should be held responsible.
- Defective drugs: Drugs are used by many people and new ones are being brought to market regularly. Many of them can make you sick — side effects can include death.
- Dog bites and other animal attacks: Dogs can bite or attack, causing severe or disfiguring injuries.
- Elder abuse and neglect: Nursing home abuse is just one type of personal injury. Elder abuse can be financial, emotional, psychological, sexual, or physical.
- Child sexual abuse: Physical and sexual abuse can lead to severe injuries. These events can occur in places such as a school, house of worship or on sports teams.
- Police misconduct: Police brutality and excessive force can lead to severe injury.
- Brain injury: Traffic accidents and falls are two leading causes of traumatic brain injury and can lead to life-long disability.
- Burn injury: Burn injuries change your life forever and may require multiple treatments.
- Paralysis: Automobile crashes, falls, acts of violence, and industrial accidents can all lead to paralysis and potentially life-long impairment.
Proving Negligence: Do You Have a Case?
Generally, to successfully sue for a personal injury, you need to have suffered a sustained injury. You need to show someone else’s actions or inactions directly led to your injury. It was their negligence resulting in you being harmed.
Each state has its own specific regulations, legal ordinances, and procedural laws. An attorney with extensive experience handling personal injury cases in New York can help you if you are injured anywhere in the state of New York.
Why Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Here is some information about representing yourself in a lawsuit.
Can I represent myself in a personal injury case?
Yes, but you should only chance this if you know a lot about your state laws and courtroom proceedings. Otherwise, you can hurt your likelihood of winning.
How do you win a personal injury case?
You have a better opportunity to win your lawsuit if you have a solid legal strategy. You also need lots of documentation and corroborating evidence from your end. You also need to get the evidence, to help you, from the person who harmed you.
Navigating Complexity
Having a lawyer with professional experience is key in navigating the legal complexities and procedures of personal injury cases. Attorneys are trained professionals. They know how to present your case in court and anticipate what the other side is likely to do.
Maximizing Compensation
Lawyers work to ensure they have looked into all possible avenues for compensation. They know how to maximize your compensation. Part of this knowledge is knowing what other people received financial settlements for when they were in similar legal situations. And what amount of money a winning trial verdict is expected to deliver.
An experienced attorney may be able to secure compensation for you for all of these damages: (3)
- Medical expenses.
- Lost wages.
- Pain and suffering.
- Mental and emotional distress.
- Household assistance.
- Travel expenses.
Weitz & Luxenberg
In response to this question — “What kind of cases do personal injury lawyers handle?”— the answer is an experienced personal injury attorney can handle a wide range of cases. You need not only a lawyer who has managed the more usual personal injury cases such as car accidents and slip-and-falls, but also more unusual cases. For example, Weitz & Luxenberg won a case involving a defective zipline. The victim was a young boy on a school trip who was blinded in one eye.
If you have suffered an injury due to someone else’s mistake or negligence, you already have a lot to deal with. This includes hospital visits, emergency care, physical therapy, emotional trauma, ongoing treatment for long-term or chronic care, and the disruption of your daily life.
Rather than trying to go it alone, ask an experienced professional for help. The lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg know what to do to help you get the most compensation possible.
No Upfront Costs
A huge benefit to hiring a personal injury attorney is you pay the lawyer only when we win your case. This is known as a contingency fee arrangement.
When we win money for you, we get a percentage of the amount. If we don’t win your case, you don’t owe us any money. Our payment comes only when you receive financial compensation.
Firms like Weitz & Luxenberg manage personal injury cases regularly. We have been helping clients for nearly 40 years. We can save you a lot of time, and an initial consultation is absolutely free.
Our firm has committed itself to providing the best legal representation possible. We encourage you to contact us by calling (833) 977-3437 or filling out the form on this page.
