Personal injury cases are tricky. On the one hand, they sound easy: prove that someone else’s negligence causes you harm, and you can claim money from them, right? On the other hand, they can be very hard to prove. After all, most personal injury cases rely on someone’s testimony, and it can be hard to know who to believe – the alleged victim, or the allegedly negligent person. Below in this article, you can find the 8 Common Personal Injury Cases.
Since you’re usually walking a fine line between winning or losing when it comes to personal injury cases, it may be best to get professional help. Someone specializing in personal injury cases – such as this firm in Tucson – will help you gather the necessary evidence and present your case in the way that is most likely to earn you a win. However, it’s good to be prepared, even if you have a lawyer. We’ll be guiding you through the most common types of personal injury cases and the best way to handle them.
Slip and fall
Slip and falls happen quite often, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not just the elderly who can fall victim to this. Anyone can slip, fall, and injure themselves. Often, if this is in a public area, such as a mall, the case can be made that there was no proper signage warning you of the fact that the floor is wet. It’s a good idea to get a few witnesses’ details so that you have other people who can testify to what happened.
Workplace accidents
Workplace accidents can get tricky if you had to sign an indemnity form, or some other legal document stating that you won’t hold the company liable if anything were to happen to you on the job. These precautions are put in place specifically so that employees can’t make a personal injury case for any injuries done up on the job. That being said, you could still have a valid case if you can prove without a doubt that someone else didn’t do their job and that this led to your injury. For example, if you’re a driver, and your employer knew your vehicle was faulty but didn’t do anything about it, you may be able to prove that the cause of your workplace injury was due to someone else not completing their responsibilities.
Car accidents
Car accidents are perhaps the most common cause of a personal injury case. Car accidents can happen due to a variety of different reasons – you could be responsible, another driver could be responsible, or it could be due to an external factor that no one had any control over. If you do suspect that you were injured in a car accident that happened due to someone else’s actions, you may have a valid personal injury case, provided you have enough evidence to support your claims. Be sure to gather the details of anyone involved.
Dog bites
Any type of animal bite or attack may give you a case for personal injury. The most common scenario, though, is that someone gets bitten by a dog. Some dogs are aggressive by nature, while others may have a generally calm disposition, and lash out when taunted or scared. Of course, this case would be made against the owner of the dog, not the dog itself. That being said, it often ends up being the dog who has to suffer for what happened, even though they were probably only operating on instinct. You’ll need medical reports and photographs to back up your claims of injury.
Medical malpractice
You’ve likely heard of medical malpractice before. These cases often make the news. Medical malpractice can refer to a variety of things that can go wrong when it comes to medical procedures or doctor’s visits. Examples include surgeries gone wrong, prescriptions for the wrong medication, or a misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice cases should be taken even more seriously than other personal injury cases, since not only is someone’s money at stake, but their career. That being said, these can often be quite easy to prove.
Wrongful death
Wrongful death is an umbrella term that generally refers to any type of death caused by someone else, or by their actions. This death can be accidental or on purpose, and the person being accused can be either directly or indirectly responsible (although it can be hard to prove that someone was indirectly responsible for something). Car accidents or medical malpractice cases that end in death are a common example of what can be used for a wrongful death case. When it comes to these types of cases, it’s important to understand that winning the case may not ease the pain of losing the person who has died. Their whole life may be laid out in court to be scrutinized, and going through the process can be grueling for those left behind. This type of case deserves a lot of thought before you decide to go ahead with it.
Assault
Naturally, any form of assault will result in some form of personal injury, meaning you have a solid case. Assault takes place in various forms – sexual assault and physical assault being some of the most common forms. Assault cases are also often easy to win if you have enough proof. As traumatizing as it may be, it’s important to document any evidence of an assault through photographs or medical reports.
Defamation cases
Finally, we get to one of the trickiest personal injury types out there: defamation of character. While most of the abovementioned cases deal with physical injury, defamation of character deals with injury towards your psyche, your relationships, or your reputation. It’s harder to convince people of this since they’re often aren’t proof, and what may be viewed as degrading by one person may not be viewed in the same light by someone else. That being said, you could still have a case, although you will have to rely heavily on proof. Videos or text proof may be used. If it turns into the said/she said situation, it can be very hard to prove who is talking the truth.
