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Being involved in any kind of accident is never an easy experience, and dealing with medical bills and other expenses can be particularly stressful when you aren’t at fault.
If you are an Arizona resident dealing with the aftermath of any other kind of accident caused by someone else, the best thing you can do is turn to Cave Creek personal injury attorneys for help.
But what exactly is a personal injury, in the first place, and why do you need one to help you in situations like these? Below is everything you need to know.
A personal injury is a form of sustained physical, mental, or reputational harm due to someone else’s negligence. Personal injury law — also known as tort law — is what governs these types of injuries.
A few types of injuries fall under the purview of personal injury laws, the most common being unintentional. They occur because of someone’s failure to live up to their responsibilities or through negligent actions. One example is medical malpractice, where a medical professional didn’t provide the care they should have offered despite not intending to harm their patient.
Strict liability claims are those that don’t require proving negligence. In Arizona, strict liability applies to dog bites and product malfunctions. In the latter case, you won’t have to show that the person who created a product behaved in a way that ended up causing you harm. The harm you’ve experienced from the product is enough to seek damages.
Another type of personal injury is an intentional tort, which involves someone knowingly acting in a way that would harm you. Battery and assault are examples of such harm.
In a personal injury claim, you’re the plaintiff, and the at-fault party is the defendant. Though these are civil cases, not criminal ones, intent can still come into play. In any case, the complexities of personal injury laws in Arizona make it crucial that you turn to an experienced personal injury lawyer to get the guidance you need.
When dealing with injuries that take time to heal, as well as losses that can put your finances in disarray, you may want to get through the claims process as quickly as possible so that you can get on with your life. However, that could lead you to settle the claim on your own, which is never a good idea.
Instead, you must turn to a personal injury attorney, as they will be able to do the following to ensure you get the help you need and the compensation you deserve:
One of the first things that an attorney can do for you is to ensure that you have a claim. Not everyone who’s been in an accident does, and the last thing you need is to start the process only to realize you may not be able to get compensation at all. A lawyer will go over all of the evidence carefully to know whether you have a claim and what kind of compensation you may receive.
Furthermore, personal injury lawyers bring objectivity to the table. They will analyze your claim and offer honest recommendations, so you have the best chance of succeeding.
Sometimes, people hesitate to contact personal injury lawyers after an accident because they worry about additional expenses. But that’s not something that should stop you. Personal injury lawyers work on contingency, which means that they don’t get paid unless you win your claim.
Proving that another party was negligent requires substantial evidence. And even for claims that don’t require proving negligence, you still have to demonstrate that you were injured and that you can be compensated.
You may not be aware of the kind of evidence that can make a difference, but a lawyer will be. They’ll also have contacts they can reach out to for assistance, especially if you need expert witnesses for accident reconstructions.
Personal injury claims can get contentious quickly, especially because of Arizona’s at-fault laws. These require that the person who is responsible for the accident pay for the other party’s losses.
That, however, can result in tough negotiations. Insurance companies will do their best to pay you as little as they can get away with, which could see them resorting to intimidation tactics to try to get you to drop the claim or accept a low offer.
A victim who doesn’t fully understand the law and who is dealing with pain and trauma may accept such a lowball settlement amount. A lawyer, on the other hand, knows how to manage these kinds of negotiations. They can do all of the negotiation work for you so that you can focus on healing.
If the various parties cannot agree on a settlement, you need to have a lawyer by your side who is prepared to take your claim to court. That being said, just the threat of filing a lawsuit is often enough to bring insurance companies and other parties back to the negotiating table.
You can’t simply file a lawsuit on your own, so turning to lawyers who have experience with litigation can be crucial in ensuring you have the option to do so if necessary.
Many people assume that they’ll have two years to present a personal injury claim, but that’s not always the case. In certain circumstances, you may have as little as a year to file your claim, which isn’t always feasible while you’re recovering from serious injuries on your own.
If you miss the deadline set forth by the statute of limitations, you no longer have a chance to get compensation. But with a lawyer, you won’t have to worry about it. They’ll make sure they meet all deadlines so that you have the best chance of getting help.
Being eligible to file most types of personal injury claims means being able to prove that negligence took place. But how do you do that?
Your first step is to establish that the person who injured you had a responsibility regarding your safety. For example, anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle does so with the understanding that they must obey traffic laws and drive safely to protect everyone on the road and in their vehicle.
You then have to show that the person or party breached that duty of care they had. If a driver chooses to drive under the influence or to text, for example, they’re putting everyone at risk by doing so.
Another requirement is that you show how the person’s negligence led directly to your injuries and losses. If the driver had a high BAC level, and that led them to swerve into your lane and hit you, which itself led to a head injury, that proves a direct link.
The final requirement for negligence-based personal injury claims is to show that you can be compensated for your losses. Experiencing a scratch because of the accident, for example, wouldn’t be enough to get you any kind of compensation.
For claims that work with strict liability, you don’t have to prove negligence, but there may be other things you do have to show. With dog bite claims, for example, you need to prove that you didn’t provoke the animal and that you were on their owner’s property lawfully.
Thankfully, by having an experienced personal injury lawyer by your side, you don’t have to worry about going through the evidence-gathering process on your own.
An accident can result in not just serious injuries but also property damage and much more. In order to help you get back to where you were before you sustained your losses, Arizona law offers a variety of damages you can claim:
Economic damages, also known as special damages, are those that seek to reimburse you for quantifiable losses. In other words, they reimburse you for the expenses with bills attached.
Medical expenses are the most common of these. You can get compensation for hospital bills, medication costs, and therapies, both physical and emotional. If your injuries are severe enough that they’ll require ongoing medical care, you can also claim future expenses.
Property damage is another type of economic damage you can claim. It’s commonly sought after in vehicle accident claims, seeing as they usually involve damaged or totaled vehicles. These damages aim to help you fix or replace the vehicle and any other property involved in the accident.
Economic damages also include lost wages. After a serious accident, you may have to miss work in order to receive treatment and recover, and that means you’ll not be making the kind of money that you’re entitled to. You can get compensated for that.
If your injuries will prevent you from returning to work or will prevent you from working in the same capacity as before, you can also get future lost wages as part of your compensatory package.
Non-economic — also referred to as general — damages are those that are not as easily quantified because they’re subjective in nature. One of the most well-known of these is pain and suffering.
After an accident, you’re dealing with more than just the cost of healing; you’re also battling the lasting emotional and physical distress that the accident caused. Claiming pain and suffering is a way to seek compensation for those losses.
Loss of enjoyment of life is another damage you can claim in instances when the injuries prevent you from living your life the way you did before the accident.
Beyond that, loss of companionship is another type of general damage you can claim. If a loved one suffered catastrophic injuries or died as a result of the accident, loss of companionship seeks to compensate you for the love, support, and comfort you will no longer have.
Generally, when it comes to non-economic damages, the more severe and life-changing your injuries are, the more compensation you can receive.
Punitive damages can sometimes be awarded in instances when the at-fault party’s actions were so egregious that they need a deterrent to prevent others from doing the same thing. These cases usually involve malicious intent.
At Torgenson Law, we offer help to those handling all types of personal injury claims in Cave Creek, Arizona.
The most common personal injury claims involve vehicles. Whether you’ve been in a car, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, or even boating accident, you can turn to us for help. We have years of experience helping people who’ve been in vehicular accidents, so we’re sure we can help you, too.
We also help with premise liability claims. When you enter a location, whether it’s a private or commercial one, you expect a reasonable degree of safety. The owner or landlord has to keep the premises in good condition to prevent accidents. If there’s uneven pavement that other people may not notice, putting a sign that states so is the right thing to do to prevent accidents, but not everyone does so. Issues of this nature can lead to serious slip-and-fall incidents.
Another type of premise liability claim we work with is a negligent security claim. If the location doesn’t have safety measures in place, it can lead to assaults, theft, and much more dangerous outcomes.
At Torgenson Law, we help victims of dog bites as well. Dog bites follow strict liability rules, which means the owner is almost always liable. Although these claims can seem straightforward, they’re not always so, which means turning to a lawyer is vital.
Product liability is another area we focus on. When you purchase a product, you assume it’ll be safe to use as directed, but that’s not always the case. If you suffer injuries because of malfunctioning products, you can file a personal injury claim. That said, these kinds of cases are notoriously tricky because you may have to deal with manufacturers and a variety of other parties, most of whom are backed by teams of lawyers.
Finally, we offer assistance with medical malpractice claims, as well as wrongful death claims. If a medical professional didn’t provide quality care and their actions led to injuries or fatalities, it’s essential to contact us as soon as possible.
Ultimately, we urge all potential clients to reach out to us to see if we can make a difference in their lives after a serious injury.
Any kind of accident can prove devastating. You could be facing a long recovery period and mounting debts, leaving you unsure of what to do. There’s one essential step to take in all of this, though, and that’s contacting a personal injury lawyer. With the right team by your side, you’ll have the legal support you need.
At Torgenson Law, we have years of experience helping people in Cave Creek and throughout Arizona get the compensation they deserve after being in an accident caused by someone else. We’re here to help you through the entire process. From an assessment to a trial, if necessary, we’ll be ready to defend your rights.
Contact Torgenson Law to schedule a consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers today.
