Personal injury law is a confusing term for many people unfamiliar with legal terminology and may think personal injury claims relate only to physical injuries. Personal injury not only refers to a physical injury but encompasses all types of harm a person could suffer due to negligence or intentional conduct by another person or entity, such as a corporation or employer.
If you believe you have suffered an injury in the Louisville area, contact a Louisville personal injury lawyer from McCoy & Heistand to learn more about your case and how an experienced attorney can help.
Personal Injury Laws
While personal injuries can certainly include physical injuries, such as those stemming from a fall, car accident, or medical malpractice. Personal injuries can also consist of financial damage, such as fraudulent misrepresentation, property damage, or an assault that resulted in costly medical bills and lost wages due to time off work.
Personal injury can also include damage to a person’s reputation, such as defamation or harm caused to a person’s mental or emotional well-being, which occurs when a personal injury causes extreme psychological stress, anguish, or turmoil. In many cases, a negligent or harmful act can cause a number of different personal injuries, as well as related damages.
Overall some of the types of cases injury attorneys in Louisville work on include:
- Medical Malpractice
- Slip and Fall
- Car Accidents
- Wrongful Death Incidents
- Product Liability
- Truck Accidents
- Comparative Negligence Doctrine
In Kentucky, personal injury cases must abide by the comparative negligence doctrine. This means that a victim who is found to have contributed in part to causing their injuries will have their personal injury compensation award reduced by the portion of fault for which they are responsible.
Fortunately for Kentucky injured plaintiffs, victims’ recovery is not completely barred, as in pure contributory negligence states. If you believe your actions may have contributed to causing your accident or injuries, your Louisville injury attorney can still help you pursue fair compensation from the other party involved.
In other words, you can still hold the other party responsible, and they will not be able to argue that your actions should prevent you from receiving any damages. Regardless of whether you share in some of the faults in causing the personal injury you suffered, our Louisville personal injury attorneys are here to help.
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Proving Negligence in Personal Injury Cases
In Kentucky, proving negligence is vital to each case. Without being able to do so, you won’t be able to receive compensation for your injuries. Fortunately, we specialize in personal injury cases and know exactly what to do in order to prove negligence.
However, we understand that this might be a new concept for you. So, below we will list the four elements of a personal injury case that we will prove:
- A duty was owed to you: Simply put, you are owed a basic level of care in any scenario. For instance, if you go to a hospital, you are owed the care to be looked after by the medical staff. Or, if you are out at a restaurant eating a nice meal with friends, the restaurant is responsible for keeping you safe from harm.
- A breach of this basic duty has occurred: If we can target the basic level of care owed to you in a given situation, we can determine if it has been breached. Therefore, if those in charge of your basic care have failed to keep you safe and prevent injuries, they have breached this duty.
- Injuries were caused: Causation must be proved in this element – meaning due to someone else’s negligence – injuries were caused.
- You have experienced various types of loss from these injuries: Finally, we will look at your injuries and create a direct link between these injuries to another party’s negligence. If this can be done, we will look at your losses due to these injuries.
Generally, this is the template we will follow in all personal injury cases. Of course, some circumstances of different cases may vary, but typically, this will occur on our end. The bottom line is that you will have a short time to file a claim for your injuries.
Kentucky law states that the statute of limitations for a personal injury is one year. This means that the day you sustain injuries, you will have one year to carry out a claim. In cases like this, time is of the essence, so it’s recommended to reach out to a trusted team of personal injury lawyers in Kentucky.
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What Damages Can You Claim in a Personal Injury Case?
In personal injury cases, you can claim various types of damages. Of course, the damages you can claim will solely depend on the details of your case and the injuries sustained. The most common types of damages you can claim are:
- Medical bills: If you pay for an expensive treatment due to your personal injuries from someone else’s negligence, you may be able to be compensated for it. Any hospital visits, medication, or ongoing treatment can be covered.
- Lost income: Many people who experience serious injuries cannot continue working or attend their jobs for longer. If this is the case, you will be losing income. Therefore, in many cases, you will be able to receive compensation for all you have lost.
- Pain and suffering: In compensation like this, pain and suffering don’t have a set monetary value. So, sometimes this can be hard to compensate for. We will work hard to stress all the suffering someone’s negligence has caused you so that the compensation for this type of loss can be fully collected.
All in all, there are many types of compensation that you can collect from personal injury cases. But only with the help of McCoy & Heistand. We know the ins and outs of personal injury law and the best ways to assist you and your case.
Hiring an Experienced Lawyer from McCoy & Hiestand
Those who have suffered due to the negligence of another party should seek the counsel of a Louisville injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss filing a claim. An attorney will be able to discuss what damages may be available based on the case’s facts and determine the best course of action for filing a successful claim.
The team at McCoy & Hiestand will fight for you. We are always there for those who have suffered serious injuries due to the negligent acts of others. For a free case evaluation, contact us today. Chad and Sheila won’t let you down.
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