Portland injury attorney

Asking for Personal Injury Legal Advice

When it comes to personal injury legal advice, you need to understand that it’s impossible for any attorney to give you good advice without knowing many, many details of your case. You need to be able to understand your own circumstances first, and then talk to an attorney.

The best thing that you can do in the beginning is to educate yourself about the legal concepts surrounding personal injury law.  Personal injury suits are usually filed by individuals, or people who represent them, when they are injured because of the negligence of another personal.  This injury could be emotional or physical, and may also involve property damages.  These injuries and damages may be caused by a wide variety of different types of actions, or even inactions.

Some of the most common types of personal injury claims include:

  • “Slip and Fall” Claims
  • Assault and Battery
  • Product Liability
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Car Accidents

Usually, the end goal of a personal injury claims it to assess who the responsible party is and to get them to take accountability for their actions and to provide adequate compensation to those who were injured or sustained losses due to their negligence.

What You Need to Know About Damages in a Personal Injury Claim

A personal injury attorney is the best person to turn to when you are seeking damages from a negligent party as these are damages that you may be entitled to by law.  There are a variety of damages that you may seek as an injured party, some of which include medical expenses, damages for both your emotional suffering as well as any physical injuries, wages lost as a result of your injury, disfigurement damages, as well as personal property damages.  There is also such a thing as punitive damages.  These kinds of damages are awarded when the actions of the responsible party are so particularly horrible that the jury or the court determines that they should be punished above and beyond the basic types of damages.

In some cases, a family member of the injured individual may also be entitled by law to damages.  This most often occurs in a case when the injured party is married and has children.  These kinds of damages are known as “loss of consortium” damages.  They are typically rewarded to a family member when the person who was injured in an accident, or lost their life in an accident, is no longer there to provide necessary services or companionship.

Personal Injury Claims – The Bottom Line

The fact is that not all people that are injured in an accident are entitled to any kind of damages for their injuries.  In order to have a valid legal claim for personal injury, they have to first prove that they were actually injured.  In addition, they will also have to show, through relevant and reliable evidence, that the personal they are claiming is at fault for their injuries is actually legally responsible for them.  What they will have to provide is what is known as “proof of causation.”  This proof of causation will involve both actual causation and legal causation.

In the end, it will be important to not only educate yourself but to seek personal injury legal advice from someone who knows the law inside and out.  This person will likely be a qualified personal injury lawyer who has years of experience working in personal injury cases.