How To Tell If Your Personal Injury Is Compensation Worthy?
If you get into a major personal injury accident like a bad car accident, you naturally think that the personal injuries you have sustained are worthy of compensation. However, this may not always be the case. You will need to consult with a good personal injury lawyer in Redondo Beach to determine if your bodily injuries merit crafting a personal injury case that asks for a monetary settlement. Aside from that, you and your lawyer will have to navigate through and understand the many complex laws (and loopholes) that collectively make up personal injury law. If you do file a personal injury case, the defendant and his or her legal team will challenge it (either in or out of court.) Therefore, you should read this article for valuable information as well.
Do you know what tort law is?
You and your personal injury lawyer will be dealing with tort law when the two of you file a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Tort law is basically the law that different judges have created over the centuries. If you do a linguistic analysis of the term, you will learn that it refers to a ‘wrong’ that the injured party has sustained. The claim would be decided on the evidence presented that is a totality of circumstances.
You’ll need documented evidence in your personal injury case.Having quality and sufficient documented evidence can make the difference between your case being dismissed by the courts and you winning the settlement you deserve. But your case will likely never go to court because the vast majority of personal injury cases are settled in private negotiations between you, your legal team, the defendant, his or her legal team, and his or her insurance company. Keep in mind that the settlement amount you’ll get from the defendant’s insurance company will largely depend on their position in fighting your claim and their size. But you should keep in mind that you will need a good legal team because this may not always be true, especially with complicated cases.
Keep in mind that the more documentation you include in your case, the better your chance of winning. Good examples of documentation include medical bills and written medical evaluations from your doctor. If you provide your lawyer with this information when the two of you are crafting your case, it will help him or her determine if you have a solid personal injury case and what its value is if you do.
Comparative Negligence
California uses the comparative negligence principle for personal injury cases. Your personal injury lawyer in Moorpark will inform you that the courts will determine your percentage of fault in the personal injury accident and calculate your final settlement based on that. Keep in mind that you may not receive a settlement at all with this principle. However, this is rare!
Collectible Compensatory Damages
You are limited in terms of the actual damages that you can claim from the defendant for your recovery. The expenses and bills associated with bodily injury and their recovery are easy to calculate as are lost wages/income. However, pain and suffering is hard to calculate. It is often where the bulk of damages comes from. The courts will award you compensation for this based on what was awarded to similar cases. However, your compensation will be subjected to a court defined limit.
Punitive Damages
This is only used when the defendant and associated parties deliberately misbehaved. Many personal injury lawyers settle these cases in court because the payouts tend to be higher. As a plaintiff, you will likely not receive court-ordered punitive damages from the defendant. You can get the settlement you deserve if you know the basic concepts of personal injury settlement that were discussed in this article and you have a good legal team, you can indeed get the settlement you deserve.