Types of Personal Injury Cases

Incidents that May Result in a Personal Injury Case

Personal injury law, or tort law, is a very broad category of the law. Personal injury law allows an individual who has been injured through either the negligent or intentional wrongful actions of another party to hold that other party responsible. There are a variety of different situations in which one person can injure another, and almost all of these situations are governed by various personal injury laws. This doesn't necessarily mean that every single situation in which someone is injured is going to lead to liability, however. The key to whether the injured victim can hold someone liable through a personal injury claim is whether or not that victim can prove the necessary elements for that type of claim.

Types of Personal Injury Cases

Car Accident Cases

Car accident cases are one of the most common types of personal injury cases in the United States. When an accident happens, in almost every situation, it occurs because someone isn't following the rules or driving as carefully as he or she should be. Every single driver in the US owes a legal duty to other drivers on the road to behave with a certain minimum standard of care.

If a driver fails to do this and his behavior is such that no reasonable driver would have been so careless, then that driver can (usually) be held financially and legally responsible for the car accident. Exceptions do exist in the 12 "no fault" states, where drivers have to collect from their own insurers except in cases of "serious" injury.

Most of these types of cases settle outside of court. The insurance company for the driver who was responsible will usually accept responsibility and pay damages for property and injury through a lump sum settlement offer. In some cases, however, a settlement offer isn't made or isn't accepted and the case ends up in a courtroom for a personal injury action.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice cases occur when doctors, hospitals or certain other health care providers behave below the professional standard of care expected. A medical malpractice case exists when:

• The health care professional provided care that fell below what a reasonable health care provider would have provided in the same position and with the same experience and background.
• The health care professional performed certain actions (like amputating the wrong leg or providing the wrong dose of medication) or omissions (like a misdiagnosis).

The low level of care must have been a direct cause of some compensable injury as well in order for the plaintiff to recover. Many such cases settle outside of court when the medical malpractice insurer makes a settlement offer to the injured victim.

Slip and Fall Cases

Slip and fall cases are another very common type of personal injury case. Property owners (or, in some cases, those who are renting a facility) have a legal duty to guests and patrons to their guests. The exact nature of this legal duty varies depending on the situation. For example:

• Businesses that invite customers in have the highest duty. They usually are required to regularly inspect the premises and to make any known dangers safe or to warn guests about them.
• Homeowners who have casual guests over have a lesser duty, but they still need to either warn or make safe any dangers that they reasonably ought to know about (they just don't have to inspect regularly for them).
• There is a duty to avoid setting traps for trespassers that could cause harm.

If a premises owner (or responsible renter) doesn't fulfill his or her legal duty, that owner can be considered negligent. The injured person could file a lawsuit to collect injury damages or could settle outside of court.

Homeowner/Landowner Liability

Homeowner and landowner liability is sort of an extension of slip and fall cases. Premises liability law simply reflects the fact that individuals could be injured in ways other than slipping and falling. For example, playground owners may have a duty to maintain safe playground equipment and if they don't, this could lead to premises liability. The same standard of care and legal duty exists here as exists in slip and fall cases.

Defamation: Libel and Slander

Defamation of character in the form of libel or slander refers to the fact that a person can suffer a personal injury to his reputation.

• If untrue or false statements are knowingly made in a public forum (in writing or orally) then this can damage a person's good name.
• Damage to a reputation can lead to actual financial damages, like loss of a job or loss of business.

The exact nature of what an injured victim of defamation must prove will vary depending on who that victim is.

• The average person usually just needs to prove that an untrue negative statement was made and that actual harm (financial loss) came from it.
• Celebrities or public figures, on the other hand, usually need to prove "actual malice." This means they need to prove that the untrue statement was made either intentionally or with reckless disregard to the truth of the statement.

Dog Bites

Dog bite cases are pretty much exactly what they sound like: an injured victim is bitten by a dog and hurt. In most cases, the owners of a dog are financially responsible for any damage caused by that dog. The exact laws on owner responsibility do vary from state to state, though. In some cases, strict liability rules exist and the dog owner is going to be liable for dog bite damages even if the dog has never shown any aggression or indication of biting before. In other states, "one bite" rules exist, in which owners only become responsible for the full extent of personal injury damages once there is a reason for those owners to know their dog is aggressive or prone to biting (like a previous history of bites.)

Continued: Types of Personal Injury Cases: Page 2

Next Steps

3. Special Cases of Personal Injury
4. Property Owners and Injury Liability
5. Defective Products and Dangerous Drugs

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