Personal injury lawsuits are filed every day. In fact, did you know that a car accident occurs every 10 seconds, and many of these accidents result in a lawsuit? If you are in an accident you might be wondering if you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. In order to be able to file a lawsuit you will need to have a couple things. Here are some characteristics that you must have to be able to file a lawsuit.
1. The Defendant Had To Have Some Sort Of Responsibility Toward You
It is very important that the person who injured you had some sort of responsibility to protect you or keep you safe. For example, a construction worker has a duty to make sure that they properly label their work zones and warn people of potential danger. If they don't and someone is injured on a site because they weren't properly warned, the construction company could be in trouble.
However, if you were trespassing on someone's property and you were injured, you probably wouldn't have grounds for a lawsuit. The owner of the property had no duty to protect you seeing that you put yourself in danger by going onto a property where you were not welcomed.
Even if you were injured, but the person had no duty toward you, you cannot file a lawsuit.
2. There Had To Be Provable Injuries and They Had To Be From This Accident
Another characteristic is that you have to be able to prove that there was some sort of injury that was sustained directly related to the accident. For example, if you feel into a construction zone hole because it wasn't properly labeled, you might have grounds for a suit. But assume that there was no injury from the fall. Instead, you just felt embarrassed and angry. Although you have a right to feel frustrated, there are no injuries that the construction company can compensate you for.
In addition, you have to be able to prove that the injuries were directly related to the accident. You cannot take a pre-existing condition and claim that is was a part of the accident. There must be documentation proving that the actual injuries were from the accident. Even if you believe that there were injuries from the accident, but there is no proof, i.e. no medical documentation, then you won't have much luck filing a personal injury lawsuit.
By understanding what is required for a personal injury lawsuit you can decide if it is right for you to file. Contact a lawyer, like the Law Office of John J Barrow, for more information.
