One can’t file a personal injury lawsuit without being aware of the various legal concepts associated with the scenario. Attorneys dealing with personal injury law are well accustomed with the affairs. In this regard, Philadelphia, PA personal injury attorneys are recognized nationally for their expertise.
There are many concepts one needs to be aware of but a few which matter the most have been summarized below.
1] Duty of care
Duty of care and Negligence are the two terms that one must be familiar with when pursuing a personal injury lawsuit. The core principle of personal injury law is Duty of care.
Every individual is imposed with the obligation of adhering to a standard of reasonable care. Everyone has to act in accordance with certain standards, and not cause harm to others. Even if the action is unintentional, but has been performed by legal breach, the action is liable to personal injury lawsuit.
For eg. If a vehicle crashes against yours, not intentionally but by disregarding the traffic rules, the accident can be filed as a personal injury case.
Sometimes, companies are held responsible for the damage. For example if a train driver’s recklessness causes an accident, then the company is held responsible because they owe a high duty of care to passengers.
Negligence is a legal term for the breach of legal duty.
2] Intentional and Negligent torts
Personal injuries are classified as intentional torts and negligent torts.
- Intentional torts include injuries committed purposefully to harm others (assault, false imprisonment, battery etc.).
- Negligent torts include breach of duty & irresponsible conduct leading to harm.
3] Assumption of risk
A legal doctrine that holds if the plaintiff exposed himself to the accident, he can’t file against the defendant.
▪︎ If plaintiff acknowledges he was aware of the risk and exposed himself to it anyway; implied assumption of risk is applied.
▪︎ Comparative and contributory negligence is considered if the plaintiff was also breaching a legal duty and was hurt.
4] Burden of proof
Burden of proof is how convinced the jury is. Certain evidence threshold has to be reached before holding the defendant liable. For this, the Plaintiff has to take great struggles to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was responsible.
The above concepts are crucial to understand before beginning a personal injury lawsuit. Further complications can be dealt with by the attorney hired. But without knowing the above, you can’t put forth your claims for the lawsuit.
