To Sue or Not To Sue- When to File Personal Injury Claim

Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property.

The most common types of personal injury claims are road traffic accidents, accidents at work, tripping accidents, assault claims, accidents in the home, product defect accidents (product liability) and holiday accidents. The most common type of injury caused during road traffic accidents is whiplash, caused when the head is suddenly jerked either backwards or sideways and a reflect contraction takes place in the opposite direction. This injury affects the bones, discs, nerves, muscles tendons or the neck. There is swelling as well as inflammation that is caused due to the rapid movement form the accident.

The term personal injury also can apply to medical and dental accidents. What makes a case a viable personal injury case is if it can be clearly proven that the injury was caused by another party, either directly or indirectly. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_injury 26/07/10)

If you have received an injury because someone assaulted you, then a personal injury claim is somewhat easy to prove, but getting money from an individual is not easy to do especially when they are poor or don't own anything.

Many people believe that within the US, personal injury lawsuits are unrealistic and pay out absurd amounts of money. Most legal firms from around the world concur that many personal injury cases are absurd, especially when considering the size of the payoffs. Huge payoffs for minor injuries have become commonplace causing the cost of insurance and to go through the roof.

For example, a man in New York a performer at a party asked a man to dance onstage. She dipped him and later he complained of pain and was treated for a fractured ankle. He is suing the host of the employee party, Home Depot, for 5.5 million dollar. Then there is the famous story of the 79 year-old woman who bought a coffee at a McDonald's drive through, then spilled it on her lap while driving away. She suffered 2nd degree burns and ended up being awarded 2.9 million dollars in the lawsuit on the fact that McDonald's shouldn't be serving coffee that is too hot.

Many people say that lawsuits such as personal injury claims in the US that these kind of legal matters are ruining America and making running any business very expensive because of all the insurance costs. Many small businesses can't survive or even begin because of this. Long gone are the days when you can have a playground with a merry go round or slide because insurance companies do not want the liability involved and to be sued by a parent.

If you have been injured because of another parties negligence, then you will have to find a good lawyer. Don't worry if you can't afford one. Unlike other lawyers, in a personal injury legal practice, the lawyer takes the case without a retainer or deposit on the case. Often the lawyer won't see any income from a case for a year or two. They must manage their time correctly so they do enough work to build a good case, but not so much that they don't end up making money.

Who is liable in a personal injury claim is an important aspect to consider.

Let me give an example of who is liable in causing personal injury:

If an elevator breaks down and falls 10 floors and you break your leg, then the liable party may be several choices. It may be the owner or management company whose building the elevator is located in, if they haven't kept recommended maintenance by a certified company or not done maintenance on the required schedule. it could be the liability of the maintenance company contracted to maintain the elevator if they have done poor maintenance. Or it could be the manufacturer of the elevator if it is a design flaw.

A proper investigation needs to be done. The insurer of the building will perform their own investigation. It may be best to have your own investigation as well because an insurance company will do everything legally possible, and possibly more so, to avoid liability.

Below is an example of how two friends involved in an accident end up with their families face to face in a court room. In the end an undisclosed settlement for this accident was reached in early 2010. The boy pictured below, John DiGraziano is permanently paralyzed and had spent two years in the hospital.