Personal injury cases are legal disputes that originate from one person being harmed, usually in the form of an accident or injury, and someone ELSE is legally responsible for that harm.
For example, if you are injured by another driver who failed to exercise reasonable care. Drivers have a duty to exercise reasonable care ANYTIME they are on the road. When they fail in this duty, and your injury is a result of this failure, you are entitled to recoup your losses.
Personal injury cases begin when an individual files a complaint against another person, business, or agency.
The private individual filing the claim is entitled the “Plaintiff,”
and the other is the “Defendant.”
These cases are often solved outside of the courtroom. These settlements
are negotiated by those personally involved in the dispute, their insurers,
and the attorneys representing both sides.
Plaintiffs have a limited time in which they are ALLOWED to file a lawsuit,
this is called a “statute of limitations.” Overall, this clock
begins to run when the Plaintiff is injured (or discovers the injury.)
If your life has been impacted by an accident, but you are unsure if you have a personal injury claim, you should consult with a lawyer to see if you should pursue a lawsuit.
