Crofton, MD Personal Injury Lawyer
Getting injured is never fun. While minor injuries are frustrating and likely to derail any plans you made for the day, more serious injuries can have significant consequences. You could require surgery, a lengthy hospital stay, or physical therapy to get back to normal. The costs of all those things can quickly add up to enormous sums and leave you reeling and wondering what you should do next.
If you or a loved one got injured around Crofton, our lawyers are here to help. We have represented many plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits, so with us, you will have experienced legal representation. We can help fight for the compensation you deserve after an injury by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and preparing the best argument possible for you to take to court.
Call our personal injury attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free case analysis.
Should You Bring a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Crofton, MD?
You should contact our personal injury lawyers about a potential case, even if you are initially hesitant to bring a lawsuit for your injuries. It can be scary to fight for compensation for your injuries in court because the process can be long and mentally draining. However, the alternative of dealing with your injuries by yourself is often much worse than going through a lawsuit. Our lawyers are ready to support you through this process and fight for the best outcome for you.
Personal Injuries You Could Sue for in Crofton, MD
The personal injury area of law covers a wide range of situations. Different accidents can result in different kinds of injuries. Here are some of the situations that our personal injury lawyers can help you with.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents can lead to incredibly serious injuries. Even a minor fender-bender could result in bruising, soreness, or whiplash, which might not become apparent until a few days after the accident. Unfortunately, not all motor vehicle accidents result in minor injuries. Car accidents of a more severe nature can result in broken bones, internal bleeding, or traumatic brain injuries.
Truck accidents are especially dangerous for pedestrians and other motorists because they are so much bigger and heavier than other vehicles. The odds are significantly against the drivers of other vehicles and pedestrians in a car accident. Plaintiffs in truck accident lawsuits frequently have suffered permanent, life-altering injuries.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slipping and falling down might seem like something funny, but that could not be further from the truth. An unexpected fall onto a hard surface has the potential to cause serious injuries. Losing your balance on a wet floor or plummeting down rickety stairs could result in broken bones and permanent nerve damage.
Product Liability
Plaintiffs who are injured by defective products bring what is called a “product liability” lawsuit. Essentially, the plaintiff alleges that they were injured because something did not work how it was supposed to. For example, a plaintiff who got injured in a car accident because their airbags did not deploy as advertised could file a product liability lawsuit against the airbag manufacturer.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is a special kind of lawsuit where you sue for injuries caused by a medical professional’s negligent conduct. For example, you could have long-lasting, painful side effects from a botched surgery. In that case, you would bring a lawsuit against the surgeon, alleging that their poor conduct caused your injuries.
Damages in a Crofton, MD Personal Injury Lawsuit
If your lawsuit is successful, the court will award damages based on your injuries as well as other factors. In personal injury lawsuits, damages are designed to put the plaintiff back to where they were before they were injured. The legal term for this is to “make the plaintiff whole” again. Since, in many cases, it is not literally possible to return the plaintiff to their pre-injury status, financial compensation is frequently used as a proxy. Damages are generally divided into three categories: economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages have an ascertainable dollar amount. Common examples of economic damages include costs of medical treatment, including hospital bills, surgeries, in-home care, and physical therapy sessions.
Additionally, lost income and earning potential can factor into an economic damages award. For example, if you missed time at work to recover from your injuries, you can be compensated based on the income you would have earned during that time had you not been injured. Similarly, if you can no longer work because of your injuries, you can be awarded damages based on your projected income for the rest of your career had you not been injured.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages differ from economic damages in that they are not based on bills or receipts. A good way to think about it is that economic damages are based on the costs of your injuries, while non-economic damages are based on the effects of your injuries. Examples of things non-economic damages can be awarded for include pain and suffering, mental anguish, or loss of consortium from a deceased loved one.
Since the pain of an injury will never be the same for any two plaintiffs, you and our lawyers will have to come up with an amount you are asking for in non-economic damages and convince the court that you are entitled to them.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are a special kind of damages that are designed not to make the plaintiff whole, but to punish the defendant. Punitive damages are reserved for defendants who have done especially bad acts that caused the plaintiff’s injuries. Because of the seriousness of punitive damages, courts rarely mete them out.
Reach Out to a Crofton, MD Personal Injury Lawyer Today
Talk to our personal injury lawyers with Rice, Murtha & Psoras about your case at (410) 694-7291.