What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Personal Injury Lawyer

Statutes of limitations are state laws setting forth the times within which you have to file various types of lawsuits and other restrictions pertaining thereto. Each state has its own set of statutes of limitations, and they vary widely from state to state.

With regard to filing a personal injury lawsuit, the SOLs of most states give you 2-3 years from the date of your injury in which to file your suit. This time frame, however, may be considerably shorter depending on the type of personal injury lawsuit you file and against which defendant(s) you file it. Your wisest course of action is to contact an experienced local personal injury lawyer like one from Hall Justice Law Firm as soon as possible after your accident who can advise you of your state’s statute of limitations for your type of injury.

Types of Personal Injuries

Keep in mind that you can sustain a personal injury from a variety of causes, including the following:

• Motor vehicle accident
• Motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accident
• Boating or other waterway accident
• Medical malpractice
• Nursing home abuse or neglect
• Slip, trip, fall or other premises liability accident
• Defective product accident
• On-the-job accident

Types of Defendants

As stated, your state’s personal injury SOL may well depend on not only what type of injury you sustained, but also on the person or entity you plan to sue. For instance, many states severely limit the time in which you can file suit against a municipality, city or county if poor road conditions contributed to your accident.

Amount of Damages

Sometimes a state law will limit the amount of damages you can receive in a personal injury lawsuit, especially if the court determines that you were partially to blame for your own injuries.

Other laws, called damage caps, most often apply to the amount of punitive damages, if any, you can recover in addition to your economic and non-economic damages.

Still other laws may severely limit the circumstances under which you can sue an employer or coworker in addition to filing a workers’ compensation claim if you sustain a work-related injury. They may also limit the amount of damages you can receive in such a situation.

All in all, navigating your way through your state’s personal injury statutes of limitations and other laws can be quite tricky, at best. This is why you need the advice, counsel and representation of an experienced local personal injury lawyer who can ensure that your lawsuit is filed against the proper parties within the allotted time frame.

Various Types of Personal Injury Claims

Do I need a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Cars and truck Mishaps: These mishaps can be due to the result of dui, speeding, negligent driving, and even being distracted by a cell phone.

Product Liability: Drownings, falls, burns, and poisoning can arise from defective products.
A pressure cooker that opens before it is depressurized and triggers burns is an example of this.

Medical Malpractice: Incompetence or negligence of a physician can cause surgical errors, inaccurate prescriptions, misdiagnosis, and giving birth injuries and prevail reasons for these claims.

Leaving a surgical tool in a body during a treatment would be considered medical malpractice.

Workplace Injury: If you slip and fall, were not trained to utilize equipment correctly, or were required to utilize faulty devices or products and are harmed on the job, you might have a case for injury.

Failure to train a staff member in the appropriate use of a forklift yet enabling the worker to operate it, triggering harm to themselves or others, is an example of this.

Properties Liability: This specific claim can be made due to hazardous or faulty conditions on someone’s residential or commercial property.

Someone who falls and breaks a leg since the owner stopped working to provide a warning about an unsteady staircase can submit a personal injury claim.

Other Examples:  The above examples prevail accident claims, but there are many more.

Attacks, repetitive strain injury, and dental mishaps can result in accident lawsuits also.

The Numbers

The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that there are over 400,000 injury claims each year.

• 52% of personal injury claims were due to automobile accidents
• 17% was because of premises liability
• 15% were the outcome of medical malpractice
• 5% happened due to item liability

Alabama has a two-year time limit from the date of injury to file a claim and does follow a “contributing negligence” guideline. This indicates that if you are at fault for any part of your mishap you may not receive any financial settlement.

Victim’s Rights

Personal injury claims are meant to protect the rights of the victim. It is very important that you do not think twice to get in touch with an attorney to secure those rights.

Usually, with the help of a lawyer, you will also recover more financial compensation due to the fact that your case existed by a professional who comprehends the laws pertinent to your case.

There are several different aspects to this type of law, as a Memphis personal injury lawyer like the ones at the law offices of Patterson Bray, can explain.

Nursing home lawyer

Victims of Nursing Home Abuse 

Nursing Home Abuse

If you believe that your loved one is being abused at their nursing home, then assure them that you are doing everything you can to help them out. Abuse is a serious allegation and one that should be taken seriously with evidence and proof that the abuse is occurring. Once you know for sure this is happening, it may be in your best interest to consult with an experienced nursing home lawyer to assist you with how to go forward with this unfortunate circumstance. Your lawyer will understand how to proceed and will know what actions to take against the home in a possible lawsuit. 

What to Look Out For

If your loved one is telling you stories about staff members verbally abusing them or chastising them, then this is especially serious. Their mental health may be affected negatively by staff talking down to them or even making threats against them. Write down any of this information that your loved one provides to you as it could be quite significant and important as your case begins to develop against the nursing home. If you see signs of physical abuse that are unexplainable like bruises, cuts, bedsores, and other strange things, then it may be especially useful to document this and find out from your loved one why they occurred. If they seem visibly afraid to explain why or refuse to answer, then there is a chance that they are being physically abused. 

Don’t Panic

When you first hear of abuse from your loved one at the home that is supposed to be caring for them this can come as quite a shock. Don’t panic and jump to immediate conclusions right away. There needs to be enough information in place in order to stop the abuse from going on and eventually taking action against the nursing home. Your lawyer can assist you with all of this information gathering, evidence, testimonials, and more. 

Confide with Legal Counsel

Legal representatives who are experienced and skilled in nursing home law such as Davis & Brusca are ready to help you with your case. Contact one today if you believe your loved one is being mishandled, neglected, or abused at the home that is supposed to be making their life better. A lawsuit or claim against the nursing home could prevent this from happening to other individuals in the future as well. 

Personal Injury And Your Child Support Agreement

If a recent injury accident resulted in you receiving a settlement for your damages, you may be wondering how that compensation might affect the amount of money you pay in child support. After all, child support is based largely on the amount of earned income of the parent. In consideration of the child’s needs (including school costs, food, medical care, clothing, and housing), any income that the support-paying parent receives, may trigger the court to increase the amount of payments. That said, not all additional income is subject to this. 

How a Judge may View the Personal Injury Award You Received

It’s important to understand that the award or settlement is not considered as one lump sum by the family court judge. Because settlements include monies for damages such as medical treatment, the portion of the award that reflects the medical bills of the injured party is not considered income. In fact, much of the settlement may not be seen as additional income. However, if there is a portion of the settlement that is intended to replace the wages that were unearned because of the individual’s injury, then that will probably be counted as regular income. For example, if the settlement was for $100,000, and $25,000 of it was to replace the wages that the person would have earned if not injured, and the rest of the award was for medical bills, pain and suffering, only the $25,000 would be counted as income. Therefore, the total amount of income considered by the judge when determining the amount of child support might not be any higher than if the individual had not been injured. Because every case is different, it is important to consult a family law attorney to be certain.

Evaluating the Needs of the Child

Of primary consideration to the family law court judge is the welfare of the child. It is the judge’s responsibility to ensure that the child’s needs are prioritized above the parents’ when making any rulings such as on child support agreements. Therefore, if you receive income via a personal injury award, your lawyer may advise you that it must be reported to the court. Not doing so could put you at risk for breaking various laws and could result in serious penalties.

Additional Considerations

It’s important to seek insight from a family law attorney about how your child support payments may be affected, because there are many factors that could impact the judge’s decision. For example, you may receive a settlement for a personal injury lawyer but at the same time you may have agreed to care for your child during recovery because you’re not able to work. This may save the other parent daycare fees and enable them to work additional hours. The judge may then hold back less of the wage portion of your injury settlement. With a family law attorney by your side to advocate on your behalf, you can ensure that your child is appropriately considered without getting taken advantage of by your former spouse.

How Long The Divorce Process Will Take?

Divorce Lawyer

If you’re itching to get out of your marriage, you might start to wonder how long the divorce process will take. Perhaps you’ve been in a bad situation for too long and you’ve finally got the courage to get yourself out of an abusive environment. Maybe your spouse cheated on you and divorce can’t come soon enough. Maybe your spouse is incarcerated and you can’t live with his or her guilt. In any case, there are some factors that will help determine how long the process takes, as an attorney, can explain.

The State Where You Live
Each state has a mandatory waiting period the couple must abide by before the divorce can be final. It’s different in every state, so you should understand your time period so you don’t get discouraged. For example, in Alabama, you have to wait 30 days after you file the paperwork before the divorce can be finalized. In Louisiana, it depends on the circumstances surrounding your divorce. If you have children, you would have to wait anywhere from 180 to 365 days for the divorce to be final.

Contesting the Divorce
Regardless of whether it’s you or your spouse that contests the divorce, contesting could make the entire process last a lot longer. If you can’t decide on a custody agreement for the kids, it might take longer. If you are having a hard time letting go of some assets, you might go back and forth a little longer than usual. If the divorce is uncontested, you might be able to get away with simply waiting the mandatory waiting period in your state.

Your Home
If part of the divorce arrangement has to do with selling your home, that could add some time to the finality of the divorce. It’s possible it will take some time for your house to sell, so you might have to make some adjustments until it does. The judge might grant one spouse to live in the house during this time, or both spouses could be ordered to move out.

Mediation or Counseling
Some courts will require a couple attend counseling or go through mediation before a divorce will be granted. In some cases, this might be done in an effort to allow the couple to see the error of their ways, but many times it is so they can come to terms with what is happening. This is especially important if children are involved. Counseling also gives the couple a chance to really look at what they’re doing to determine if it’s really the right step.

Contacting Your Divorce Lawyer
A divorce could take a significant amount of time if it gets ugly, but you could also get it over with in a month, depending on where you live. If you’re ready to get the process started, contact a divorce lawyer today.

Human Errors That Cause Accidents

Car Accident Lawyer

According to crash data released by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) in 2016, some 94% of all severe accidents were due to human error during vehicle operation. Drivers can face a number of situations that may result in making the wrong decision when behind the wheel of a vehicle. While there are a number of complications that still need to be sorted out before drivers allow their cars to fully take over; there have been many technological advancements that might help reduce the risk of an accident. If you have been the unfortunate victim of a car accident at the hands of a driver who may be held responsible, contact an attorney for their assessment of your case and guidance should legal action need to be taken. 

Human Errors That Cause Accidents

Humans are flawed. There are various factors that may result in an accident. However, only a small percentage of these factors do not involve the person driving the car, as a car accident lawyer, can explain. A high percentage of accidents are the result of human errors such as:

• Distracted Driving (cell phone use, choosing music, operating navigation, eating, reaching for something)
• Driving Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol
• Misjudgement of Spatial Surroundings
• Breaking Driving Laws
• Failure to Perform Necessary Vehicle Maintenance

If you have fallen victim to an accident at the hands of another driver, you may want to speak with an attorney. You may be able to hold the other driver liable for the damages you have suffered as a result. 

Advancement in Motor Vehicle Technology

Advancements in car technologies may actually help to reduce the risk of an accident occurring. Many vehicles come equipped with safety features and technology that help drivers from succumbing to common errors made:

• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Automatic Collision Brake Systems
• Lane Assist
• Park Assist
• Steering Assist

Although cars on the market today are not fully automated, they do offer a variety of options that can take some of the pressure off of driving. Driving a car equipped with this type of technology helps drivers to avoid accidents, and they can take some of the stress out of driving. 

Flaws in Autonomous Vehicles

Many of us looking to the future may imagine getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and letting the car do the driving. This may be further away than some might think. Self driving or fully autonomous vehicles pose a number of problems, according to tech sources. One of the most significant barriers involves the ability to keep up with the many software updates that may be needed. Look at the number of updates that are required for a cell phone. It just may be too unrealistic to expect a self driving car to be able to predict all of the unpredictabilities that come up when driving a car. 

Sometimes, the unexpected can occur, especially when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Poor driving conditions, unpredictable drivers and many other factors make it difficult to produce an autonomous vehicle that can respond when faced with the number of unknowns on the road. Although a driver may never be able to sit back and allow a car to completely take control of the driving, some motor vehicle advancements may be able to help reduce the risk faced by drivers. If you have fallen victim to a car accident, the aftermath can be completely devastating. Contact a car accident lawyer to learn more about how they may be able to help you should legal action be necessary. 

If I’m Working Remotely, Can I Still Make a Claim?

Personal Injury Attorney

With the pandemic ravaging the country, one major shift in the societal infrastructure is that it has become more common to see people work remotely. The idea is that if a job can be done online from home, a company will mandate that position be done remotely. This way, essential work can continue while satisfying quarantine measures and guidelines. Some jobs are completely online, while others are a hybrid of online work and physical work, requiring a level of manual labor. Suppose that you are injured during work at home while doing your job. Since this isn’t a typical office setting and is in fact the privacy of your own home, is it still possible to make a personal injury claim? You can, but only under the right conditions.

Conditions: Your claim must first be valid, and for it to be valid it would need to actually be related to your job. For example, stubbing your toe on your bedpost on your way to your desk isn’t a valid claim. So consider these questions before making a personal injury claim: Was the action that caused your injury approved by your employer? Was it beneficial to your employer? Did the job require this action be performed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your claim will likely be valid, because it wouldn’t make a difference if the action was performed at the office/workplace or at home since it was part of the job. The potential of injury would always have been there, regardless of the location.

Does your company have workers’ compensation? Just about any place that has positions involving manual labor has a form of worker’s comp. If your company does, you likely signed a contract protecting them from lawsuits while giving you the benefit of a guaranteed payout for your injury. If you’re under contract, there are still ways to make a claim, but the conditions will be different. Say, for instance, for you to have a valid claim, your employer needed to have performed an intentional act that injured you.

Awareness: As a general condition, while working remotely you need to maintain regular communication with your employer. Just because you’re not in the same building anymore doesn’t mean that you can just do whatever you want to do and the courts will look favorably on this. If your employer is unaware that you are performing the action that caused your injury and the action didn’t serve to benefit your employer or the position, then you are culpable for committing this act and you can’t make a claim. 

Before you move forward, you may want to consider contacting a personal injury attorney, or an attorney at Patterson Bray.

Defective Roadways

While motor vehicle accidents are very common reasons to pursue personal injury claims, there are also other ways individuals have vehicles that are damaged outside of motor vehicle collisions. Potholes are a great example. We try our best to avoid them, but sometimes it is impossible. Running into a pothole can lead to serious tire and wheel damage to your vehicle. To make matters worse, this wheel and tire damage could lead to losing control of your vehicle and getting into an accident. Potholes are common everywhere from small towns to major cities. One thing that is also common is roads needing repairs. There are several reasons roads may crack or break up and lead to potholes. If you are extremely unlucky, these potholes can be large enough to bend the rim of your tire, cause your vehicle to need a wheel alignment, and lead to a motor vehicle accident.

 Who Is Responsible?

The question then becomes, “Who is responsible for my property damage?” Due to the roadway’s poor maintenance, there may be someone responsible for the damages to your vehicle. However, this depends on a few things. First and foremost, laws vary from state to state, so it is important to know and understand the rules and laws of your state. Because potholes occur so frequently, states have laws in place that can hurt your property damage case. That’s why it is important to have an attorney.

 Hire a Lawyer

An attorney will be able to investigate the location of the accident or where the damage occurred and determine if the state was aware of this pothole or defective road, and if they can somehow be held liable. In the event that your attorney investigates and finds there is liability, you are good to go.

The attorney will then draft and file the proper documents that are required to request funds from the appropriate entity. This may be on private property, municipalities, or be the state’s responsibility. While all of this is uncertain when the incident occurs, an attorney will help figure out the viable information. If damages of this nature are not covered by your car insurance, it can be an extreme hassle. Should you or someone you know be the victim of property damage or motor vehicle accidents due to potholes or defective roads, contact an attorney, like a personal injury attorney in Atlanta, GA from Andrew R. Lynch, P.C., as soon as possible.

Statute of Limitations on Motorcycle Accidents

If you are thinking about filing a personal injury lawsuit for your recent motorcycle accident, you may have heard that there is a statute of limitations. Since you may not know the extent of your injuries, it’s normal to wonder why there is a deadline. Here is why the statute of limitations is important and why there is one.

Protection for the Case

To wait too long to file your claim can put a dent in your ability to win. After years, there may be less evidence. If you had witnesses that saw the accident, who could back up your claim that the other driver was at fault, you may not be able to use them after waiting too long. While you may have a clear memory of what happened that day, the witnesses may not. Memories fade and change over time. You may find that there are more discrepancies in their statements. The witnesses may not even agree on the circumstances of the accident.

The more time that you wait to file your claim, the harder your case is going to be to fight. You don’t want to go through the pain of gathering evidence years after the accident occurred. The sooner that you can access police reports, witness statements and file an insurance claim, the better. Also, insurance companies may have a statute of limitations themselves. It is better for you if you file early.

Protection for the Defendant

No one wants to be served with a civil lawsuit years after an event happened. While the main point of the statute of limitations is to make sure that the evidence is still valid and that it hasn’t deteriorated, the statute does serve as a protection against defendants. For instance, if you live in South Carolina, your statute of limitations is three years. You cannot file a lawsuit against someone five years after the accident. They may not have a fair shot in arguing the case, because they didn’t think you were going to sue. It’s fair for both sides to have the statute in place.

No matter the civil lawsuit, any claim has a statute of limitations. While there are exceptions if your injuries due to the accident manifest later, for the most part, you have a deadline on when you can file. 

Does a Birth Injury Qualify for a Personal Injury Claim?

Having a baby can be one of the most beautiful events of your life, but if your child is born with an injury, it can become a devastating event in a matter of moments. Some injuries you may be prepared for, while others you may not be. Whether the injury was a birth defect, the fault of the doctor or the fault of the hospital, you may wonder if there’s a personal injury claim in there somewhere. The following gives a brief explanation.

Birth Defect or Birth Injury?

One of the biggest issues that will determine whether you have a case is if the injury is a birth defect or an actual birth injury. Birth defects are typically caused by genetics, and can also be caused by random events during development and pregnancy. The actions of the mother could also result in birth defects. For example, a mother who drank alcohol while pregnant could have a baby with serious defects.

Birth injuries, on the other hand, are typically caused by the negligence of another person or entity. They generally happen at the time of labor and delivery. A birth injury could be the result of improper use of medical tools, an improper technique for delivery, an inattentive doctor or nurse, and a wide range of other situations.

If your baby’s injury is a birth defect, you typically don’t have a personal injury claim. If the injury is a true birth injury and someone is directly responsible for it, you could have a case.

How Do You Prove Negligence?

In order for you to have a case, you’ll need to prove negligence on the part of the individual who caused the injury. While doctors, nurses and other hospital staff are just as human as you are, you trusted those individuals to care for your most precious possession: your child. To prove negligence, there are a few facts you’ll need to secure, including:

• A doctor-patient relationship existed, which means the doctor owed you and your baby a certain duty of care.
• The doctor failed to provide a level of care that any other doctor in that same situation would have provided.
• Your baby was injured because of the doctor’s failure to provide proper care.
• The injuries have caused harm to you, your baby, your financial situation, your emotional state, etc.

Getting Questions Answered

As you face life with a child who has been injured, you don’t have to deal with everything on your own. To get your legal questions answered, contact a personal injury lawyer in DC, like from The Law Firm of Frederick J. Brynn, today.