What Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Cover?
Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran
Suffering a personal injury can lead to not only pain and suffering, but also the challenge of financial difficulties, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and future earning capacity. Knowing when and where to turn to seek help successfully can mean winning compensation for your injuries.
Personal injury law covers specific cases, providing those with injuries the benefit of seeking compensation for others’ intentional actions or negligence. Here are the types of cases personal injury lawyers commonly cover.
Vehicle Accident Cases
Today, most personal injury cases are due to vehicle accidents of various types, including cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, and boats. Most often, these accidents occur due to an individual being careless or distracted while driving.
In many instances, such a driver can be held responsible for the resulting accident and personal injury to another. There are several “no-fault” states, including Michigan, in which the injured must first seek reparation from their insurer.
A personal injury lawyers can assist with the process, providing guidance, speed, and a better outcome. If the vehicle accident results in any type of permanent disability, a personal injury attorney is even more beneficial in helping you reach a more agreeable outcome.
Medical Malpractice
We all want to trust our medical professionals, but sometimes it doesn’t work out this way. Medical malpractice can be a complicated area and often occurs when a health care provider’s services fail to meet an acceptable medical standard of care. As a result, the patient is injured. A few examples of this include birth injuries, spinal cord injuries, and in some instances, wrongful death.
There are several factors involved in proving malpractice did indeed occur, so you can benefit from hiring a personal injury law firm to take you through the required steps of a medical malpractice claim.
Product Liability
Thousands of consumers suffer personal injury every year from faulty or defective products. Because of this, product liability laws are needed to ensure consumers are protected and that manufacturers are held to a higher standard. If a product is sold on the market, everyone involved with that product’s supply chain, from its designers to its marketers, may be liable for any faulty or defective characteristic.
Seeking legal advice from a personal liability attorney can help determine whether you have a case and who is liable. Injuries suffered from a faulty or defective product can happen to anyone, not just the purchaser, and either can bring a lawsuit.
Workplace Injury
We spend a gigantic portion of our lives at work and depend on our employer to provide an efficient and safe working environment. There are even federal guidelines in place to protect workers when they are at their job. However, accidents do occur. These can lead to lost time at work and even long-term disabilities that significantly compromise your ability to live and earn income. This is the reason behind employers carrying Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
Filing a claim with your employer shortly after such a workplace injury is in your best interest. From there, you can seek benefits from Workers’ Compensation until you can get back on your feet. These benefits cover medical and rehabilitation expenses as well as lost wages. In many instances, legal assistance can assure you receive all the benefits needed for your particular injury.
Other Personal Injury
Various injuries fall under the umbrella of personal injury and can lead to the need for a personal injury lawyers. While vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, product liability, and workplace injuries are possibly the most common, not all personal injuries fall neatly within these categories. A few others include:
- Slip and Fall Injuries: There are numerous slip and fall injuries every year, often without any fault of the injured person. You may be walking through a store and slip on water that has collected near a freezer. You can be taking a stroll on a city sidewalk and trip and fall due to a raised section. While such properties legally are required to be kept safe for customers, hazards do pop up occasionally, and injuries occur.
- Dog Bites: While laws concerning dog bites vary across states, but in Michigan, the dog’s owner is typically responsible, and the injured can be compensated as a result.
Final Thoughts
Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. is here to help you with your personal injury case and help navigate the legal system. As part of our experienced and knowledgeable team, Eileen Kroll has over 30 years of experience serving as a registered nurse and attorney, representing clients in the Greater Detroit area and Michigan.
As part of our personal injury law firm’s commitment to the attorney-client relationship, we work diligently with you, your employer, insurance companies, and various others to provide the representation you deserve. Call our law office today at 866-MICH-LAW and schedule your free case evaluation.
Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.