What Is a Personal Injury Claim in California
I’m Ed Smith, a Citrus Heights personal injury lawyer. Personal injury is an umbrella term for injuries to a person that happen due to the negligence of another. The injury can be caused by a car accident or a slip and fall. The injury causes the victim, also called the plaintiff, harm that has financial repercussions. It is this financial loss that the victim seeks to replace when they file a claim against the other person, called the defendant.
Financial Loss in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
The financial loss can be divided into economic loss or non-economic loss. Economic loss can be put forth on a balance sheet. It embodies medical expenses, lost wages and future expenses. Medical expense covers:
- Emergency room fees
- Hospital bills
- Medication costs
- Physician and surgeon fees
- Lab and X-ray costs
- Rehabilitation
- Future medical care
Lost wages are those wages the person would have earned had he or she not been injured. Lost wages include not only the current wages but can cover wages the person might have earned in the future.
Non-Economic Damages
Such damages are subjective and vary from case to case. They incorporate such things as pain and suffering. They also can include:
- Loss of consortium
- Anxiety
- Psychological trauma, including post traumatic stress disorder
- Emotional trauma
- Disfigurement
- Inability to do ordinary things that were once enjoyable to the victim
What Is Negligence?
Under the law, everyone is responsible for his or her acts. In this way the plaintiff can assume that people will use reasonable care to prevent harm to others. When such care is absent, the duty is considered breached. The duty varies according to the situation. For instance, in a motorcycle accident, the defendant would be expected to drive in such a way as to avoid hitting someone on a motorcycle. A doctor is expected to act in a way that is consistent with others in his or her profession. Not doing so can lead to a medical malpractice case. Proving that the defendant had a duty to the injured party is the first step in proving negligence. Whatever the duty, showing that it was broken is the second step in proving negligence. The remainder of the proof a plaintiff must provide is that the lack of care resulted in specific injuries, and the injuries had financial repercussions.
Statute of Limitations
In California, there is a limit to the amount of time within which a lawsuit can be filed. This is called the statute of limitations. The length of time varies according to the type of negligence. For instance, the statute of limitations in a personal injury lawsuit such as a car accident is two years. However, if the injury was not evident right away, the statute can be one year from the time the harm was discovered.
Government claims are different. A plaintiff must file a specific type of claim called an administrative claim within six months from the time the accident happened. An example would be when filing a claim against the state, county or city for injuries due to road defects. Finally, if the defendant was a minor when the accident happened, the time in which to file will begin again when the person reaches 18 years of age. This is called tolling.
Comparative Negligence
In California, fault is considered to be pure comparative negligence. This means that when an accident happens, more than one person may be considered negligent. In such cases, the plaintiff and the defendant may share negligence. The plaintiff can recover damages but only to the extent of negligence the defendant is at fault for.
Citrus Heights Personal Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Citrus Heights personal injury lawyer. An injury caused by another’s negligence can have serious financial consequences. If you or a member of your family has suffered an injury, give me a call at (916) 921-6400. You can also call me at (800) 404-5400, or use our contact form found on my website, AutoAccident.com. I am always available to offer my friendly, free advice.
For the past 35 years, I have helped injured residents in Citrus Heights and Northern California for cases involving:
- Bicycle accidents
- Wrongful death
- Pedestrian accidents
- Traumatic brain injury
- Dog bites
- Truck accidents
If you are interested in how I resolved cases, go to my settlements and verdicts page.
Go to Avvo, Yelp and Google to learn about my law practice from former clients and some of my peers.
I am a member from the state of California in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. We are a group of trial attorneys who have won $1 million or more in verdicts and settlements.
Photo Attribution: https://pixabay.com/en/justice-right-case-law-court-2071539/
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