When someone doesn't exercise care and their negligence causes injury or damage to property, you have a legal right to demand compensation. You don't have to suffer physical injury to end up with monetary damages after a car accident. In most cases, you can only file a personal injury lawsuit and get compensation for your pain and suffering if you also suffered a physical injury. In general, you must suffer an actual injury in order to file a personal injury lawsuit.
However, if you experience mental distress after experiencing a “close call,” you may be able to file a lawsuit, but only under very limited conditions. There are two types of “call close” cases. The first we will call “Near Accident Cases” and the second we will call “Spectator Cases”. Generally, a successful personal injury lawsuit requires you to prove that you suffered financial or non-economic losses from the injuries you received on behalf of the negligent party.
Your injuries must be substantial enough to justify losses. Medical bills and lost wages are classified as losses, for example. A third-party injury lawsuit seeks compensation for the pain and suffering of a negligent party other than your employer. For example, if you're in a car accident in New York while you're on the job, you can sue the negligent driver for economic damages.
Even if you don't know the extent of your injuries right now, consulting with an attorney can help you assess your current and potential losses and determine your legal rights. Once the duty and default have been established, the court examines the injury and whether the breach of duty caused the injury suffered. On average, those who hire a personal injury lawyer tend to receive much more money once the case has been resolved than those who try to represent themselves. In some personal injury cases, injuries may not be disclosed until several days, weeks, or months after the actual date of the damage.
In personal injury cases, non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, are sometimes valued in dollars by multiplying your economic damages by insurance company adjusters and lawyers who don't think much about the impact on your life. In certain personal injury cases, it can be argued that the statute of limitations had expired when the plaintiff brought the case to court because they should have noticed the damage from the injury before the date they said they did. Personal injury cases involve cases in which an accident occurs due to negligence and, as a result, subsequent physical, mental, or emotional injuries are incurred. Some examples of accidents that would be considered personal injury cases include car accidents in which the person or persons without fault suffered serious or fatal injuries, and slip and fall cases in which serious or fatal injuries occurred.
Personal injury insurance lawyers want to pay you as little as possible and often present your proposal as a final offer. If you want to file an injury lawsuit (either through an insurance claim or a lawsuit), you generally need to be able to prove that the person you are making the claim against was in some way negligent and that their negligence resulted in your injuries (your damages).
