6 Major Types Of Personal Injury Lawsuits
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Legally speaking, a personal injury is any kind of harm done to a person. This harm can be physical, psychological, or it can be to a person’s reputation. Tort law, the part of the legal system that deals with personal injuries, also covers property damage and wrongful death suits brought by the surviving family. Several types of lawsuit come under the tort law banner, including the following categories.Workplace Injuries
For the most part, workers’ compensation insurance covers any and all injuries suffered on the job. As a no-fault insurance, workers’ comp goes around the usual problems of finding fault and assigning liability so employees can get paid medical and living expenses until they’re well enough to get back to work or else find a new job if they can’t go back to the old one.
However, there are times when employees have to go around workers’ comp, or else the insurance doesn’t apply for some reason. At times like these, it may be necessary to hire a personal injury lawyer to get proper compensation.
Traffic Accidents
Millions of auto collisions take place every year, and a big fraction of them result in physical injuries and serious property damage. Around 30,000 people die in traffic accidents every year, and roughly one-tenth of them take place in Florida. Most of these accidents are covered by auto insurance, but the policies might not be enough to cover all the damage and insurance companies don’t like paying out if they can find a reason not to. Having a lawyer on hand can improve your negotiating position and get you a bigger settlement.
Premises Liability
When you invite someone over, whether that person is a guest at your dinner party or a customer at your store, you have a responsibility to make sure they stay safe and out of trouble while they’re there. This means doing things like making sure your shelves won’t fall over from the slightest touch, locking away cleaning supplies and knives when young children are present, and setting up warnings in places where danger is unavoidable. If you don’t, you may be liable for any injuries that happen to your guests while on your property.
Product Liability
The products bought by consumers should be safe for them to use, or at the least they shouldn’t be more dangerous than the consumer expects. Manufacturers aren’t responsible if someone uses their kitchen knife as a weapon, but if a brittle blade snaps off and hits someone while they’re chopping vegetables, the manufacturer sold a defective product and owes compensation to the person who got hurt.
Dog Bites
Animal owners and animal handlers have a responsibility to make sure the animals they care for are not a danger to any human nor any of their pets. This can be by training their pets and keeping them fed or by keeping the animal behind a fence or an enclosure and posting warning signs by the entrances. “Dog bite” laws get their name from the fact that aggressive dogs are the most likely reason for using this section of personal injury law, but they also apply to other pets and captive animals.
Libel And Slander
Libel and slander refers to times when someone says something about you that isn’t true and it hurts your reputation. This harm can have real consequences, like losing your friends, losing your job and being unable to get a new one, and otherwise being shunned by people who used to respect you. If you can prove your reputation damage is real and the slander or libel isn’t, you could be entitled to compensation.
These situations and more all fall in the personal injury umbrella. If you live in St. Petersburg, Flordia and you need a good personal injury lawyer, you should contact the law office of Babboni today and ask for a free initial case review.