Navigating the tricky waters of personal injury law
Personal injury or “tort” law (the French word for “wrong”) is the body of law that allows one to be compensated in the event that someone else’s carelessness, recklessness or intentional misconduct injures or damages you or your personal belongings. Car accidents are classic examples of the type of events covered by tort law. If someone hits the back of your car while you’re stopped at a red light, that person commits a tort. In America that person is generally referred to as the “defendant”, and the person harmed is called a “plaintiff” or “claimant” once a personal injury lawsuit is filed.
State law usually governs personal injury lawsuits, but federal law may apply in certain circumstances. For example, an injury suffered on federal property may be covered by the Federal Tort Claims Act, or liability for injuries suffered in an airplane crash may be governed by international treaties. A claim for personal injury must be accompanied by an injury that can be compensated. In other words, one must prove an injury in order to seek monetary damages. For example, if you were to slip and fall due to someone else’s fault or negligence, you could not recover damages if you were not injured in some way.
The law of personal injury is concerned with determining who may be responsible (who is “liable,” or has “liability”) for causing injury and how much the responsible party should be required to pay for any damages resulting from the injury. It’s a challenging Practice Area and one that the Jeeves Law Group has extensive experience in.
If you’ve suffered a personal injury, use the form on this page to contact Jeeves Law Group for a free case review.
