In the multifarious age of technology, discovery and science that we live in, one would expect that there would be a veritable plethora of ways and means to recover from having suffered a wrong at the hands of another. You might be surprised to learn that, at least in the area of personal injury lawsuits, the same tried and tested categories still apply. There are about a dozen or so basic areas applicable to personal injury, with certain off shoots and branches from the norm. And if you get the right representation (read: expert attorney on your case), you have the real opportunity to recover more than pocket change for your troubles (but don’t quote us on that, we only speak for ourselves).
So, you believe you have suffered a personal injury. Are you sure? Let’s take a look at what types of personal injury categories might apply to your loss.
You might have been injured recently and suffered a head, brain or spinal chord injury. These injuries are very serious, and some can have permanent results. These include traumatic brain injury, concussions, paraplegia, quadriplegia, memory loss, sensory loss or even personality loss or other brain function problems.
If you work at a hazardous job, you might be subject to risks for being injured at work. If you are injured at work, you have several different types of claims against multiple players and parties. Work related injuries can happen in poor working conditions, where you have not been adequately trained to use equipment, faulty equipment or where an accident just happens one day for no reason at all.
There are also injuries that build up over time. In these cases, you have possibly been exposed to hazardous chemicals, or have breathed in vapors or toxins. The effect to your lungs, brain or body may not be known or realized right away. You may find out years after leaving a job that you were adversely affected by a substance on the job. Do you remember when restaurants allowed customers to smoke at dinner? Imagine being a waitress or server in those restaurants. Those people who waited on smokers may have claims for second-hand unfiltered smoke, and their symptoms may not have been discovered for years after they left those jobs. But, the employer may still be liable for their losses.
What about transportation accidents occurring on the roads, highways, rural streets, off streets, wilderness tracks, and other areas of the country? You can be injured in the woods in your ATV just as easily as you can be injured on the street near your home or office. These losses include train, plane, maritime and other accidents. Whatever means of travel you are taking to get from point A to point B, I hate to say it, but you can suffer an injury or loss.
Another issue will be if you are injured as the result of someone else’s negligence. These might include dog bites, wrongful death, general tort liability, and even standard slip and fall cases. You can be abused or assaulted by another person, either verbally or physically, there could be a defective product, drug or pharmaceutical product that brings harm to you or your family. And when you go to be treated by your doctor, nurse, hospital, nursing home, hospice care, in-home nurse, companion aide, health care facility or urgent care facility, you could be mistreated, neglected, abused, had an error of medicine prescribed, had the wrong leg operated on, had been given a wrong diagnosis, or generally have a medical malpractice case on your hands.
Are you still with me? I stopped counting, but I am sure we hit the dozen mark awhile ago here. Suffice it to say, whatever type of personal injury claim you may have, you will want to get it right the first time. You won’t get a second chance to present the best case, so don’t mess this one up. And don’t leave it to a flip of the coin, I guarantee you will not be happy with the result.
When you are ready for an expert to handle your case, using best practices and the wisdom of having done it successfully in the past, give us a call at Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or email us at www.ledgerlaw.com. We are ready to hear your story, so give us a call today.
