The Sarasota law firm of Probinsky & Cole has been helping area residents with their successful personal injury cases for years, but sometimes it is good to go back to the basics. Whether you’ve been involved in a personal injury filing or you have questions today, we are here to explain everything to you, from the beginning. In this blog, we take a step back and explain the basics of personal injury.
Personal injury cases are the most frequently pursued legal cases in the country. Chances are you’ve been involved in, or know someone who has been involved in a personal injury case.
Personal Injury Defined
Personal injury law permits an injured person to go to civil court and obtain damages for losses which were the result of an accident or other incident. The system allows the injured party to be compensated financially or “made whole” after he or she has suffered harm due to someone else’s negligence, or willful bad conduct. Personal injury law is also known as tort law.
Most Common Types of Personal Injury Claims
A personal injury law firm accepts cases involving injury to individuals’ bodies, minds, and emotions. Personal injury law is not used to recover personal property, but financial loss can be remedied with these lawsuits. Law firms who specialize in personal injury law typically handle individual cases as well as class action lawsuits.
Accidents: The most common of the personal injury cases in Florida are from car, truck or motorcycle accidents, however they can also include slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice and other types of negligent acts. In these cases, fault will be assigned to the offending party when their negligence is proven. The injured party may then collect damages to help pay for medical expenses, lost wages, and ongoing treatments or loss of future income. Examples of negligence may be a drunk or distracted driver who causes an accident; a grocery chain with a wet floor which caused a bad fall; or a doctor who misdiagnosed an illness and the patient got sicker as a result.
Intentional Acts: Personal injury laws also apply in circumstances where a defendant’s intentional conduct caused injury to another party. Examples of this may include assault and battery, false imprisonment. trespassing, or intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Defective Products: Product liability laws hold the designers, manufacturers and vendors of products liable for any injury which may occur as a result of a real defect in the product itself. Unlike many other personal injury cases, one or more defendants in a product liability case may be found guilty without any intentional misconduct.
Defamation: A personal injury case may be brought when one person’s defamatory statement causes harm to another person’s reputation. This may not involve any physical harm, rather emotional distress or financial implications may be at play.
One of the most pressing questions from those who have experienced harm is “do I even have a case?” With pressure from insurance companies to settle quickly, and the stigma sometimes involved filing lawsuits for personal reasons, you may hesitate to call a personal injury attorney – but you shouldn’t. If you feel you may have a case, or even have questions about your situation, call Probinsky & Cole. We will discuss your case, advise you as to your options, and help you navigate the system should you choose to proceed.
If someone was negligent and you were injured, you deserve to be compensated. If you are in the Sarasota or Tampa area, call the personal injury attorneys of Probinsky & Cole. We can help.
