The hassles that may be associated with filing a lawsuit prevent many injured people hesitant to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, there is no other choice if you want to obtain compensation for the injury and associated damages caused to you by the negligence of another person. A good personal injury lawyer helps injured victims to hold accountable the people/organization responsible for the injury, and receive compensation for all their injuries. When determining the validity of a personal injury claim, the process of medical record analysis is very important.
The 4 Conditions Necessary to Prove Negligence
Catastrophic injuries from car accidents and slip and fall injuries are not the only type of injuries that could lead to a personal injury case. Personal injury law allows for injury claims in most situations where someone else is responsible for your injuries. The following 4 conditions are mandatory for someone to be found negligent for their action.
- Duty: The person responsible for the injury must have owed the victim (plaintiff) a duty, based on his/her relationship with the former (defendant).
- Breach: The defendant must have breached their duty by failing to use the appropriate care that any reasonable person in that situation would use, or must have breached their duty by breaking a law.
- Causation: The breach must have caused the victim’s injuries.
- Damages: The victim must have suffered injuries or other harms that a court can compensate him/her for.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Providers of medical record review for attorneys commonly review the medical records of victims of personal injury claims that fall under the following types.
- Slip and fall cases: If you are injured by tripping or falling in a store, sidewalk, staircase and so on, on another person’s property, you may be able to sue for your injuries. Slip and fall accidents could cause broken bones, back problems, and even brain injury, and these could happen to young as well as old individuals.
- Nursing home/day-care injuries: Often, people entrust their loved ones to the care of others in the hope that they will stay safe from injuries. However, negligent care or intentional acts of harm could occur from nursing home and day-care staff.
- Car accident injuries: Car crashes result in serious injuries such as spinal cord injury and whiplash injury among others.
- Defective product injuries: Sometimes products you use such as a tool, toy or appliance could be defective and cause injuries.
- Medical malpractice injuries: Physicians and other healthcare providers are expected to adhere to a high standard of care. When patients are provided treatment that falls below the applicable standards, injuries occur and the victims may be entitled to compensation.
- Assault: This could fall under tort and criminal law, but assault cases often have physical injury claims attached to them. Victims could pursue a lawsuit against the person who caused the injury, so they will be responsible for paying out damages to cover medical expenses.
- Workplace injuries: Repetitive stress injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, neck injuries from reading, slip and fall injuries are all injuries that could happen at the workplace. These injuries vary based on the type of work the person is engaged in.
Why the Services of an Attorney Are Required
Personal injury cases may be covered by insurance and seeking compensation could be easier. However, the compensation may not be what is actually due to the victim. After an injury, the victim may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and separate compensation for pain and suffering. Filing through insurance could prevent access to pain and suffering damages, along with additional “punitive” damages a court may order to punish the entity responsible for the victim’s injury. Thus filing through a court of law could make you entitled to additional compensation. In addition, a jury and not the insurance company, will finally decide how much compensation you are entitled to. There are no limits or “caps” on jury awards – a victim could receive as much as he/she may be entitled to.
Injured victims may not be well-versed in the law in their states, and therefore it is best to seek the help of a personal injury attorney. Utilizing reliable medical review solutions, the attorney will determine whether the case is feasible in a court of law.They can also advise the client on matters such as statute of limitations or the timeline to file the case in their particular state.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this blog is sourced from various internet resources and is not the opinion or inference of MOS (Managed Outsource Solutions). It is not professional legal advice. MOS explicitly disclaims any liability for any action taken based on any information contained in this writing.