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Many different kinds of accidents can cause injuries—car accidents, slip and falls, bicycle accidents, and more. As a result of these injuries, an injured party may suffer other losses, such as medical bills, property damage, and lost wages due to time away from work. In certain circumstances, you can recover compensation for your injuries through a personal injury case.
Navigating a personal injury case can be overwhelming, but an experienced Portland personal injury attorney can help guide you through this process.
Understanding the basics of a personal injury case can also be helpful in determining how pursuing one may benefit you.
Most personal injury cases are based on negligence. In a legal context, to act negligently means failing to exercise reasonable care and caution under the circumstances. If someone acted negligently and you suffered damages, you can likely recover compensation for your losses.
To prove that the at-fault party was negligent, you must prove the following four elements.
You must prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care. In many cases, the default duty of care is to act the way a reasonably prudent person would under the same or similar circumstances.
You must also prove that the defendant breached the duty of care through their actions or inactions.
You must show that you suffered damages as a result of the accident.
Finally, you must prove that the defendant’s conduct was the actual and proximate cause of your injuries. The “actual cause” means that, but for the defendant’s conduct, you would not have been injured. The “proximate cause” means that the plaintiff’s injuries are a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s conduct.
As the party seeking compensation, you will have to prove these four elements by a preponderance of the evidence. An experienced Portland personal injury lawyer can help you build your case.
Personal injury victims can recover compensation for their injuries. These losses are known as damages. The two main types of damages are economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages relate to the financial costs associated with an accident. These include medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and diminished earning capacity. They will be calculated based on the costs you actually incur or expect to incur. They often can be proven with receipts, invoices, or other supporting documentation.
Non-economic damages relate to the emotional or psychological costs associated with an accident. These may include pain and suffering, emotional anguish, loss of companionship by a loved one, or loss of quality of life. Because they are based on an individual victim’s subjective experiences after an accident, they are less straightforward to calculate than economic damages. Your attorney may recommend hiring an expert witness to help prove your non-economic damages.
Personal injury cases are a type of tort case that involve physical and emotional injuries.
Personal injury cases involve a wide variety of accidents, including:
You may have a personal injury case if you were injured in an accident caused by another person’s carelessness or negligence.
When you seek compensation from the at-fault party in your case, you will usually be dealing with their insurance provider. These big companies have dedicated legal teams and years of experience handling personal injury cases. Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer will ensure that you’re equally matched to fight for compensation from the insurance company.
A knowledgeable personal injury lawyer will also manage your case from start to finish, so you don’t have to.
A personal injury attorney will take the following steps to achieve the best outcome in your case:
If you’ve been injured in an accident, contacting an experienced personal injury lawyer in Portland, OR, is an excellent first step to take in your case.
Whether you were injured in a motorcycle accident, a slip and fall, a car accident, or in some other way, you may be able to recover compensation through a personal injury claim. A skilled personal lawyer can guide you through the process. Contact an experienced Portland personal injury lawyer from Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers at (503) 272-8986 to schedule your free consultation.
