A personal injury covers a wide range of trauma caused by a wide array of accidents and intentional acts, leaving you anywhere from scraped and bruised to injured so dramatically that you are faced with massive medical bills and unable to work. When someone else recklessly hurts you, you can hold that person accountable and get the money you need to secure your future. Reach out to a Greene County personal injury lawyer to discuss your case.
When a person is injured because someone else acted intentionally or negligently, the injured party could seek compensation from the reckless party. Some of the common types of personal injury cases involve:
A seasoned personal injury lawyer in Greene County could review medical charts, police reports, witness statements, and photos to help build a case for compensation.
Personal injury cases are civil actions based on negligence. The injured party must prove to the courts that someone who had a duty to act reasonably to ensure others’ safety acted recklessly. The injured party and their attorney must also show that the defendant caused the accident, the victim was injured, and that the accident was the legal and proximate cause of the victim’s injuries.
For instance, if a long-distance truck driver falls asleep at the wheel and is found to have been taking narcotics, that driver has been reckless. If the truck rear-ends a car, injuring the car’s driver, the elements of a personal injury lawsuit are met. A Greene County personal injury attorney could assess a situation to determine if all the elements of negligence are met.
Accidents are not always caused solely by the defendant. Sometimes victims act negligently and contribute to their injuries through those actions. Mississippi follows the rules of pure comparative negligence, which allows the injured claimant to collect damages from a defendant even if they are found to be 99 percent at fault.
Any compensation the court awards will be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the victim. A seasoned Greene County personal injury attorney could assess the facts and help the injured party seek compensation for all of their damages.
Damages are categorized as compensatory economic and non-economic, and punitive. Economic damages are measurable losses suffered by the victim, such as medical bills and lost wages. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, loss of future earning power, loss of the enjoyment of life, and emotional distress. Mississippi caps non-economic damages at $1,000,000 except in actions for medical malpractice.
Punitive damages are only available if the personal injury is caused by someone acting intentionally with malice, or grossly negligent with deliberate disregard for the victim. An example of a malicious, intentional act would be a neighbor who totes a gun across the street and shoots another neighbor whose dog is barking. An example of gross negligence would be someone who shoots through the windows of a house known to be occupied.
Mississippi law allows the injured claimant three years after the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If a plaintiff files a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired, the injured party may be ineligible to recover compensation for damages.
Accidents happen every day, and not all of them amount to a personal injury. But if you have been harmed by the actions of another person, a Greene County personal injury lawyer could help your case. Schedule a consultation today to get started on your claim.