Personal injury law is an aspect of tort/civil law wired to help injured victims get a reprieve for what has been deliberately or mistakenly done to them. It involves a series of legal steps aimed at securing compensation for victims of personal injury or accident. As earlier stated, the personal injury law system is tailored to help victims get compensation for perceived negligence or intentional act by another individual or group of persons. This compensation can be financial, moral and otherwise. Personal injury rules apply in the following situations:
Accidents: When another persons’ misconduct or negligence causes harm to an innocent individual such as a car accident or a doctor’s negligence, personal injury law applies.
Defective products: There are instances where a plaintiff uses products made by the defendant and gets hurt. Injuries sustained in such an instance can be grouped as a personal injury because these products are substandard, fake or defective. After the facts have been established and it is confirmed that injuries sustained are a consequence of the consumption of a defective product, the defendant is liable.
Defamation: When an individual or group makes deliberate attempts to dent the image of another person, this is termed defamation. In such an instance, personal injury law applies. Defamation can be in the form of an uttered statement or a remark.
Intentional act: When an intentional act or deliberate attempt to injure another person results in the said individual sustaining various degrees of injuries, personal injury law comes into play. Assault and battery are two such instances.
History of personal injury law
The history of modern personal injury law dates back to the old common law. As stated earlier, personal injury law is an aspect of tort law. Most personal injury laws are a result of judicial precedence. What this means is that these laws are not made by decrees, statutes or bills. Another interesting twist is that personal injury laws are not the same in all the states of the federation. Different laws apply to different cities. Therefore, what applies to a plaintiff in New York might differ from that of someone in Texas.
How does a personal injury case play out?
After the plaintiff is able to prove that the defendant has done something to injure him/her whether knowingly or unknowingly, the injured party contacts a personal injury lawyer. The first thing the lawyer tries to do is to reach an out of court agreement.
An out of court agreement implies that the defendant, after agreeing to willfully or unknowingly inflict injury on the plaintiff, makes an offer (usually in monetary form) to the plaintiff. This offer is a form of compensation for the damages caused and it comes with a corresponding promise by the plaintiff not to file a lawsuit or halt every pending court case. If the plaintiff concurs to this offer, the case is closed. However, if the plaintiff doesn’t think the offer is good enough, litigation continues until a competent judge makes a final declaration on the case.