Personal injury can strike without a moment’s notice, leaving you reeling from pain and loss, lost income, funeral expenses, and medical bills. In worst-case scenarios, you may lose loved ones or suffer debilitating injuries leaving you unable to work and live a normal life. Let’s delve deeper into what personal injury is and when it’s appropriate to obtain the services of a legal professional.
What Is Personal Injury?
Personal injury is when you suffer an injury from an unexpected accident or mishap that is in no fault of your own. Personal injury comes in many forms and can wreak havoc on your life in the blink of an eye. A few of the most common situations causing personal injury are motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, premises liability, workplace accident, medical malpractice, product liability, etc.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
As more vehicles take to the road each year, accidents continue to increase. The increased risk of being in an accident looms heavy over those who commute to and from work, school, and leisure activities. If you suffer personal injury as a direct result of amotor vehicle accident regardless of if you are a pedestrian, driver, or passenger, you may have the right to monetary compensation to cover financial losses and personal injuries.
Cases involving compensation from automotive insurance companies can become overwhelming, and you may settle for less than you need to cover the expenses you incur as a result of the accident. A personal injury attorney can help you navigate the ins and outs of your case and get you the best possible settlement. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may want to consider seeking professional assistance.
Wrongful Death
A case of wrongful death is usually due to someone’s carelessness. Cases such as these can be the direct result of truck or car crashes, medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, the use of dangerous or defective products, airplane accidents, or construction accidents. The loss of a loved one due to wrongful death negatively affects the family and brings hardships such as financial strain, heartbreak, and a sense of loss.
A personal injury lawyer is essential in this type of case as they can help determine the extent of damages that will need to be recovered due to the wrongful death. They can also help alleviate the overall stress of the situation by handling the legal process while the family and loved ones grieve. This may be the toughest type of personal injury to endure.
Premises Liability
Accidents caused by defective or dangerous conditions on someone’s property are referred to as premises liability. These types of personal injuries can happen on personal or commercial properties. So if you are in an accident at your neighbor’s house, a gas station, grocery store, restaurant, or a retail store, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
Situations covered under premises liability include falling down a staircase with missing handrails, being bitten by a dog, slipping on spilled liquids in an aisle, tripping over uneven walkways, to name a few. When dealing with commercial businesses or homeowners’ insurance, they may try to sell you short when it comes to the compensation they offer to cover your injuries. A personal injury lawyer can step in and ensure you are taken care of and given ample compensation for your troubles.
Workplace Accident
A workplace accident is when a person is injured or killed on the job. When this happens, the employee may not be allowed to bring a personal injury lawsuit against their employer. If this type of accident takes place in the Chicago area or northwest Indiana, the employee or employee’s family will be required to file a claim under their localWorker’s CompensationAct. Once this action has been taken, the employer will be required to make various benefits available to the employee that has suffered a personal injury.
These benefits can include temporary total disability, medical treatment, and permanent partial disability, depending on the seriousness of the injury. Each state’s Worker’s Compensation law is different and can be tricky to navigate. You may choose to represent yourself as you work closely with your employer’s human resources when personal injury is minor. If you have sustained a significant injury, it may be best to acquire the services of a Workers’ Compensation attorney.
Medical Malpractice happens
When you or a loved one encounters an injury due to the negligence of hospitals, nurses, doctors, or any other type of medical professional, you have been the victim of medical malpractice. This arises more than you may think, and in some cases, it is never addressed. Improper treatment, medication mistakes, misdiagnosis, pharmacy errors, surgical errors, birth injury, and a failure to diagnose a serious health condition are all forms of medical malpractice.
These types of cases can be extremely complex and require the expertise of a legal professional. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can quickly address the situation and take appropriate action to handle your case. Aggressive legal action may need to be taken to compensate you for the personal injury you or a loved one has suffered at the hands of a medical professional.
Product Liability
If a defective or dangerous product injures you, you may be entitled to compensation under product liability. This type of personal injury can take place in public places, your home, or at work. Products such as food, dangerous drugs, children’s products, consumer products, medical devices, vehicle parts, chemicals, and toxic materials are just a few of the many items that could cause injury due to being defective, having improper labeling, or having incorrect manuals.
When products are the cause of personal injury, the responsibility of product liability falls on government entities, individuals, or businesses that designed, sold, marketed a defective or dangerous product, or manufactured the product in question. It can be trying for an individual to pursue a case of product liability without the help of a legal professional. Apersonal injury lawyercan help to identify the responsible parties and implement a plan of action to obtain compensation to cover your injuries.
Even if you haven’t had the misfortune of suffering from a personal injury, it is always best to be informed and have a contingency plan in place of how you would handle such a situation. There are assorted resources available that can help you make informed decisions when faced with personal injury. Contact Alvarez Law Office when you require personal injury representation in the Chicago area or northwest Indiana.