Fort Washington, MD Personal Injury Lawyer
Getting badly injured is never part of anyone’s plan. When you get injured, you will have to deal with a lot of unexpected variables and circumstances. In the short term, you will likely have to undergo intense medical procedures such as surgeries or long hospital stays. Looking further ahead, many serious injuries require a dedicated physical therapy regimen to get back to a regular living situation. In the instance of life-altering injuries, lifelong medical aid may be required. This is to say nothing of the mental toll the distress of a harrowing accident can inflict.
When you are badly hurt, you need competent, professional legal help. Our lawyers have handled a myriad of personal injury cases for many clients, and we are ready to lend our experience to assist you with your legal matters. We will not stop fighting until justice is served for your injuries.
To get a free case analysis, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s personal injury lawyers at (312) 578-8502.
Injuries We Can Represent You for in Fort Washinton, MD
Our personal injury lawyers can represent you for a variety of injuries. While some types of injuries will require similar approaches to be successful in court, the facts surrounding each kind of injury – as well as your specific case – will be unique. We will go into some of the injuries we can represent you for in court below.
Car Accidents
One of the most common causes of personal injury lawsuits is motor vehicle accidents. Arguably, the point at which any person is the most dangerous in their life is when they are behind the wheel. Accordingly, there are many laws and rules in place regarding proper conduct on the road. When drivers break those rules, either through carelessness or on purpose, accidents and serious injuries can result.
Severe injuries can happen when a driver hits another vehicle. However, when a driver hits a pedestrian, the pedestrian’s injuries are likely to be significantly worse because they are not afforded the safety features of a passenger in a motor vehicle.
Truck Accidents
Truck accidents have the capacity to result in even more serious injuries than ordinary car accidents. Trucks are incredibly large and heavy when compared to other motor vehicles. In fact, a fully loaded 18-wheeler can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. This is significantly more mass than an average car. For much the same reasons as when a car hits a pedestrian, the odds of serious injury to motorists hit by a truck are incredibly high because of the weight disparity. Vehicle safety features may not be enough to protect a driver from that kind of impact.
Work Injuries
Many injuries that happen in the workplace fall under the purview of worker’s compensation. However, there are limited circumstances where you may be able to sue your employer for injuries you get on the job. For example, worker’s comp covers injuries that happen by accident. If your employer intentionally injured you, worker’s comp would not apply, and you can sue them directly.
Slip and Fall
A slip and fall can result in very serious injuries. Depending on how you land and the surface you hit on the way down, you could break bones, get bruised, or get a concussion or other traumatic brain injury.
The most common reason for slip and fall injuries many people think of is losing your balance on an unsuspected wet floor in a grocery store. Indeed, that kind of incident can lead to nasty injuries, but there are many other ways that a slip and fall accident could happen. For example, someone could trip down a flight of stairs that is poorly lit or in a state of disrepair, or someone could lose their balance on an uneven sidewalk with unsuspected holes or gaps.
Medical Malpractice
When doctors and other medical professionals injure you through their own negligence, you can file a lawsuit against them. Common reasons for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit include botched surgeries, incorrectly prescribed medication, and failure to diagnose an illness that would have been treatable if it were caught on time.
What You Can Recover in a Fort Washington, MD Personal Injury Lawsuit
If your personal injury lawsuit is successful, you will recover damages based on your injuries as well as your specific situation. Each case is different, so there is no way to predict exactly what the jury will determine is an appropriate amount of damages for your case. However, there are a number of factors that can influence what you ask for in damages when you file your lawsuit.
One of the first things many plaintiffs think about when determining damages is the payment of hefty medical bills. One of the primary purposes of damages in personal injury lawsuits is to bring the plaintiff back to where they were before they were injured. While this cannot always be done physically, it can certainly be done financially, so having the defendant compensate the plaintiff for their medical bills is a way to do that.
You can also be awarded damages for lost income from work if you have to take time off to recover. Alternatively, if you had to take a less lucrative job because of your injuries, you can be awarded damages based on the difference in income.
Damages can also be awarded for things that are not necessarily physical. For example, you can be compensated for the pain and suffering you experienced during the accident that injured you, as well as the harrowing experience of recovering from your injuries.
Finally, in rare circumstances, you may be able to ask for “punitive” damages to punish the defendant for very bad conduct. This is not common and is determined on a case-by-case basis, so you should speak with our lawyers about this possibility.
Talk with Our Fort Washington, MD Personal Injury Lawyers
Call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (312) 578-8502 to speak with our personal injury lawyers about your case.