How Do I Know if I Have a Personal Injury Claim?
Posted by Hover | Injury | Posted on December 9th, 2010
Getting hurt can happen in any number of ways. Many people might assume that, dependent on the specific circumstances of the injury accident, they may not be able to seek compensation for their injury. However, this is not always the case, since there may be more factors at play in your injury accident than you may be aware of. Austin personal injury lawyer Michael Grossman explains a few of the ways in which you can know whether or not you have a legitimate personal injury claim.
First, you must have experienced an actual injury, whether physical, emotional, or mental. Slipping while at work and hurting your back is an injury; slipping while at work and only embarrassing yourself is not an injury. For the most part, it’s fairly straight-foward to know if you’re actually injured or not.
Secondly, you must be able to prove that another party owed you some kind of legal duty and that they subsequently broke that legal duty, resulting in your injury. For example, in a car wreck, the negligent driver owes you a legal duty for public safety. If they cause a wreck that causes you harm, then they are said to have violated that legal duty. Some accident injury cases can be simple to prove that a legal duty existed and was subsequently violated, but other cases, dependent upon the particular circumstances of that case, may not be so clear. This is often the point at which it is necessary to contact experienced legal help who can help clarify what legal duty was owed and whether or not that duty was violated by the negligent party.
Lastly, you must be able to show that you as a victim suffered some kind of financial setback as a result of the injury. This loss can take the form of medical bills associated with the injury, compensation necessary for pain and suffering, loss of wages due to time off from work, or other types of damages, as they’re known in personal injury accident cases.
If you believe that your personal injury accident contains all of the characteristics as outlined above, you may have a legitimate personal injury claim to stake against a negligent party or parties. In that instance, contacting proper legal help in your state is recommended so that you can receive legal assistance that can guide you towards receiving fair compensation for your sustained injury.