Have you been harmed by another individual's negligence, carelessness or recklessness? lf so, you might have good cause to file a civil suit against the person who harmed you. Cases such as these fall under a legal concept known as personal injury law. This article will examine some basic facts about this area of the law that everyone should know.

What is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law refers to civil cases where someone claims they have been harmed by the action of others. If the person claiming a personal injury is able to prove their case in court or convince the other side to settle, they will receive compensation for their injuries. The most common type of personal injury cases involve auto accidents, but other issues, such as medical malpractice and slip and fall accidents, can result in personal injury lawsuits as well.

Most personal injury cases revolve around the principle of negligence. If you are the plaintiff in this type of case, you must usually show that the defendant was negligent in some way and that their negligence directly led to your injuries. Personal injury suits can also be brought against someone who intentionally harmed you, in which case the principle of negligence would not apply. Another legal principle that is relevant to personal injury cases is called strict liability. This principle generally applies when a manufacturer has produced a defective product and the product causes harm to the user.

Agreement

Many people probably assume that a civil suit of this kind will involve a complex court trial. The truth, however, is that the majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court.  The typical case is resolved by a settlement agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant. For instance, if you are involved in a personal injury case the most likely result is that it will be resolved by talks between your attorney and the attorney for the defendant or the defendant's insurer. If the talks are successful, each party will agree to an amount of compensation that you are due for your injuries.

Contingency

An individual with few assets should not worry about pursuing a valid personal injury claim. Attorneys who take these cases will usually work on a contingency fee. If you do not win the case you owe them nothing. If your claim is successful then you will pay them a certain percent of the damage award that you receive. As a rule, the typical contingency fee will be about 33 percent of the damages.

Personal injury is a complicated area of the law that the average person is unlikely to navigate successfully without expert help. For more information contact a personal injury firm, like Carter & Fulton, P.S.