A serious injury changes every aspect of your daily life. You may need physical therapy, multiple surgeries, or costly medications. You may need to quit your job, take a leave of absence, or exit the workforce permanently. You may lose hobbies you once enjoyed or be forced to give up certain plans. You should not have to cope with these devastating outcomes on your own.
If the negligence of another person caused your injuries, you have the right to get answers for what happened. The person who injured you may be liable for your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost earnings, and other damages. Our attorneys can help you gather evidence to prove how the defendant’s negligent actions are directly responsible for your injuries.
Call our personal injury lawyers at Rice Law at (410) 694-7291for a free, confidential legal evaluation to begin your case.
When Can You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Gaithersburg, MD?
You may have a personal injury claim if your injuries resulted from the negligence of an individual, a business, or even a government entity and there is still time remaining in the statute of limitations.
What Is Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim?
What is negligence? Though the concept is complex, the short answer is that negligence is carelessness resulting in preventable injury. If a person or business fails to meet reasonable standards and causes an avoidable accident, the victim may bring a claim for negligence.
What Are Common Examples of Negligence in Personal Injury Cases?
Negligence can take many forms, depending on the situation.
Poor Property Maintenance
For example, preventable slip and fall accidents are frequently caused by negligent, inadequate cleaning and maintenance (such as a restaurant’s failure to clean spills or leaks within a reasonable amount of time).
Medical Malpractice
In a medical malpractice lawsuit, negligence might involve a surgical error, the failure to order lab tests, or the misdiagnosis of a patient’s condition.
Negligent Driving
In a car accident case, negligence usually involves some form of driver error (such as distracted driving) or, less commonly, a defect in the vehicle itself.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Personal Injuries in Gaithersburg, MD?
Maryland generally allows up to three years to file a lawsuit after an accident. It is in your best interests to file even sooner, since it will be easier to preserve and locate evidence supporting your claim in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Filing sooner also gives you the chance to be compensated sooner.
What Are the Exceptions to the Statute of Limitations for Maryland Personal Injury Claims?
Your filing deadline may differ because a tolling exception changes the accrual date for the statute of limitations.
Minors
In Maryland, the personal injury statute of limitations does not begin to run until a minor victim has turned 18. Only then does the 3-year filing window open, giving such plaintiffs until they turn 21 to bring their compensation claims.
Mental Incompetence
Maryland also tolls the statute of limitations for mental incompetence, only letting it run once a victim’s disability is removed.
Delayed Discovery
Some injuries are immediately visible, painful, and obvious to victims, while others are not and take hours, days, or even weeks to be discovered. Any time you were not aware of your injuries should not count against you regarding the statute of limitations, so the statute of limitations should accrue on the date of discovery, not the date of injury.
Fraud or Concealment
If a defendant uses fraud or concealment to hide a cause of action from a victim, the statute of limitations tolls and the accrual date becomes the date the plaintiff should have known about the defendant’s fraud.
Defendant’s Absence from the State
A defendant may not benefit from the statute of limitations running when they leave the state, meaning you might have longer than 3 years to bring your case.
How Much Is Your Gaithersburg, MD Personal Injury Claim Worth?
The answer to this question varies for each accident survivor, so it is crucial to consult a skilled, knowledgeable personal injury lawyer about your specific case before proceeding.
Compensation depends on factors such as the severity of your injuries, the types of medical procedures you have received and will need in the future, how much income you were previously earning and how much you are capable of earning after an accident, whether you can return to work, and many other variables.
Can You File a Personal Injury Claim in Gaithersburg, MD if You Share Fault?
Victims who share fault for their injuries, no matter how small their contribution to an accident, are totally barred from recovery in Maryland because of its pure contributory negligence rule. Even apologizing or misstating about what happened could be misconstrued as contributory negligence and affect your recovery, so be careful what you say in front of the negligent party.
What Medical Costs Should You Pursue for a Personal Injury?
A common claim in personal injury cases is medical costs. The key characteristic of a personal injury case is bodily harm, which often requires medical care. Medical care is unfortunately very expensive, even for minor injuries, and your damages might be quite serious.
If your injuries are severe, you may require long-term medical care that lasts beyond the end of your lawsuit. We can estimate the likely cost of your future medical needs and add it to your claims.
Can You Sue for Property Damage in a Personal Injury Case?
When an accident happens, the personal property you have with you might be damaged or destroyed. For example, in a car accident case, your vehicle and the personal items inside it may be damaged beyond repair.
The cost of repairing or replacing property should be factored into your claims for damages, and our lawyers can seek such compensation in your lawsuit.
Are Personal Injury Victims Entitled to Lost Earnings or Wages in Gaithersburg, MD?
Sometimes, injuries are so serious that a victim cannot return to work. You might be unable to work for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or indefinitely. The longer you cannot work, the more income you will lose. We can calculate the value of all the income you have lost and the income you will continue to lose and add it to your claim for damages.
What Is Pain and Suffering in a Personal Injury Case?
Not all damages are measured in financial terms, but they may still deserve fair compensation. Non-economic damages may include claims related to pain, distress, suffering, and other painful experiences.
The pain of your injuries may be overwhelming, and your body might be so injured that you will never recover fully. You may have to deal with physical pain and emotional distress over what the future holds for you, and you deserve compensation for those intangible harms.
What Do You Have to Prove in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
As with any lawsuit, you must have evidence to prove your claims. More specifically, we must prove your claims by “a preponderance of the evidence.” In short, this means we must show that it is more likely than not that the defendant is liable for your accident and injuries.
Can Eyewitness Testimony Help You Win a Gaithersburg, MD Personal Injury Case?
Witnesses are often a major component of lawsuits, and strong cases have been built upon witness testimony. If others saw the accident or have firsthand knowledge, they may testify in court.
How Can You Find Eyewitnesses for Your Personal Injury Case?
Our team can identify witnesses and speak with them in advance to determine whether their testimony will be useful and reliable. This includes interviewing witnesses the other side plans to call in court during depositions.
When Do You Need Business Records for a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
If you sue a business for injuries you sustained in an accident, we may need to see certain business records. Or, if you were hit by a truck driver, we may review business documents from the trucking company about the truck driver, the truck, and safety or inspection records.
We may not have access to these records until your case enters the discovery phase. During this time, we can request access to documents that we believe are relevant to your case.
How Important Are Medical Records in Personal Injury Claims?
Your medical records are necessary to prove the extent of your injuries and the cost of treatment. Since these records are yours, you have a right to see them, and we should have no problem obtaining copies with your permission.
Keep in mind that hospitals may need time to compile all the records we need, so request copies as soon as possible to avoid delaying your case.
Why Should You Use Video Footage as Evidence of a Personal Injury?
Video footage from nearby security cameras may be among the strongest evidence available in personal injury lawsuits. Such videos may show exactly how the accident happened, why you were hurt, who was present, and the overall conditions at the accident scene.
Why Should You Take Photos After Sustaining a Personal Injury in Gaithersburg, MD?
After an accident, you should do your best to photograph the scene. If you can, take photos while waiting for help to arrive, and photograph as much as possible. It is normal for defendants to clean up accident scenes, often before the police can investigate, and evidence could be lost. Your photos might be the best record we have of what the accident scene looked like immediately afterward.
Do You Have to Be Injured to File a Personal Injury Claim?
A personal injury lawsuit requires that the plaintiff have a bodily injury. While various other claims may be filed, such as property damage claims, physical harm is required to file a personal injury claim in Maryland.
Can You File a Personal Injury Claim for Minor Injuries?
Your injuries do not necessarily have to be severe, life-threatening, or disabling to be grounds for a lawsuit. Even relatively minor injuries may be grounds for a personal injury case if they cause damages to a victim.
Do You Have to Sue to Get Compensation for Personal Injuries in Gaithersburg, MD?
You do not necessarily have to sue to get compensation for personal injuries. You may have other legal options worth exploring, such as insurance claims or settlement options. However, insurance claims and settlements often do not fully compensate victims for their damages. These options may be more limited than a lawsuit, and you should sue to get the full extent of the compensation you deserve.
When Should You Begin a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Gaithersburg, MD?
In Maryland, personal injury plaintiffs have 3 years from the date they are injured to file a lawsuit in court. It can take months to prepare a case to be filed, so it is best to call a lawyer for help as soon as possible. If you do not file your case on time, you may be barred from ever filing the case or recovering compensation.
Are Personal Injury Claims Worth a Lot of Money?
Personal injury claims are often worth a lot of money when they involve severe injuries, enormous medical costs, and various other damages. Not only that, but when injuries are particularly severe, damages related to pain and suffering tend to be more significant.
Who Should You Sue for Personal Injuries in Gaithersburg, MD?
You should sue the person or business directly responsible for the accident. This may be the person driving the car that hit you, or the business where you slipped and fell and became badly hurt. You may sue multiple parties in the same case. Your lawyer should help you determine who should be included in the lawsuit for their contribution.
What Can a Lawyer Do to Build a Strong Personal Injury Claim?
To build a strong claim, our personal injury lawyers can begin working on your case as soon as possible to preserve evidence that could help us prove liability, such as eyewitness statements and video footage.
What Can a Lawyer Do During the Discovery Phase of a Personal Injury Claim?
During the discovery phase of a personal injury case, our lawyers can share evidence with the defense and request records and other evidence from the defense so that we can assess their case so far.
In addition to preparing you for a possible deposition, our lawyers may depose witnesses during the discovery phase to gather information that could help your case.
Do You Need a Lawyer to Settle Your Gaithersburg, MD Personal Injury Case?
Having a lawyer’s help settling your personal injury case is often necessary to ensure you walk away with a settlement that legitimately covers most or all of your damages. Some victims underestimate their losses, making a bad settlement offer appear good enough to accept.
Do You Need a Lawyer to Litigate Your Personal Injury Case in Court?
When personal injury claims go to trial, plaintiffs need to be able to rely on experienced attorneys. Without our lawyers’ help during a trial, you might be unable to meet the standard of proof necessary in personal injury claims or establish all core elements of these types of lawsuits, putting you at risk of little to no recovery.
What Are the Chances That Your Personal Injury Case Settles?
There is a very high chance that your Maryland personal injury case will settle, as this is how most cases resolve. However, the defendant also has a say in the settlement, which can complicate the resolution and whether you receive a good offer.
What Should You Expect from a Personal Injury Trial in Gaithersburg, MD?
When a personal injury claim goes to trial, our lawyers have the opportunity to prove the defendant’s negligence to the jury by presenting compelling evidence and questioning eyewitnesses and experts. The defense will also have the chance to present their case, and then the jury decides liability.
What if Settling Your Personal Injury Claim Takes Too Long?
If settling your personal injury claim takes too long because the defendant will not budge from a lowball offer, you should consider going to trial. A defendant might want to avoid court at almost any cost, and might offer a larger settlement if they think you will proceed with a trial.
Our Gaithersburg Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help
Call our personal injury lawyers at Rice Law at (410) 694-7291 for your free case assessment.