One of the most common kinds of civil claims is for personal injuries. These cases may cover a wide range of accidents, but the core element is the presence of bodily injuries. The defendant in your case does not have to intend harm or do something illegal to be held responsible. If they are held responsible, they may be ordered to pay you fair compensation for your injuries and damages.
Starting a personal injury case begins with a call to an attorney. They can help you gather evidence, evaluate damages, and prepare the legal paperwork needed to start your case. When evaluating damages, we should consider how the accident cost you money and how it impacted your overall physical and psychological well-being. In some cases, additional damages may be awarded to punish defendants if their actions are found to be especially egregious. We cannot prove your claim for damages without evidence from the accident. Evidence tends to be unique in each case, and your attorney can help you figure out what you need and whether it is available.
Call our personal injury lawyers with Rice Law at (803) 219-4906 to get a confidential case evaluation free of charge.
How to Start Your Personal Injury Case in Ladson
To begin your personal injury case, speak to an attorney about your accident and injuries. Remember, personal injury law encompasses a great many different kinds of claims and cases, so you need to work with a lawyer who has experience with your kind of claim. Once you speak to a lawyer, they can review your situation and determine if you have a valid cause of action.
First, your lawyer will likely want to start gathering evidence. While we often think of evidence as something that comes up in the courtroom, it is important much sooner than that. We need some showing of evidence in the initial complaint to prove to the court that your claims have merit and are not baseless. A lack of evidence at this stage might lead to your case being dismissed. Exactly where we find evidence depends on how your accident occurred.
At the same time, your lawyer should be assessing your damages. As described below, your damages should reflect injuries, losses, expenses, and painful experiences from the accident. Since every case is unique, your injuries should represent your specific experience and losses, whatever they may be. Making sure damages are assessed accurately is key to making sure you get fair compensation.
Once we have all the needed information about how you were injured, who is to blame, evidence, and damages, our personal injury attorneys will draft and file a legal complaint. The complaint is the document that will start the case once the court accepts it. As such, all the details and the overall tone of the complaint are incredibly important, and they will influence how the entire case proceeds.
Damages Available in Ladson Personal Injury Cases
Your damages represent how you were injured in the accident, the financial costs associated with those injuries, other losses, and painful experiences. Generally, your compensatory damages are awarded to make up for the things you have lost and are subdivided into two categories: non-economic and economic damages. In rare cases, punitive damages may also be awarded to punish defendants, but only in very specific circumstances.
Compensatory Damages
As mentioned, compensatory damages are intended to provide financial compensation for the things you have lost as a result of the accident. These damages may be awarded based on how much money your injuries and losses cost you (i.e., economic damages) and how the overall accident impacted your life, mental health, and general well-being (i.e., non-economic damages).
A few common examples of economic damages include medical bills, property damage, and lost income. After an accident, you should go to a doctor as soon as possible for treatment. While this is necessary, it may also be quite expensive, especially if your injuries are severe. Property damage might also be expensive. In car accident cases, plaintiffs often must deal with the expense of a new vehicle or extensive vehicle repairs. On top of that, various personal belongings inside the vehicle might be destroyed. On top of it all, your injuries might stop you from returning to work for a while, possibly indefinitely. In such a case, you may lose income at a time when you desperately need it. We can estimate how much income you have lost and may continue to lose and add it to your damages claim.
Non-economic damages are not always tied to monetary costs and often cannot be proven with things like receipts or bills. Instead, these damages are rooted in your personal experiences from the accident. Pain, suffering, distress, humiliation, and other painful yet subjective experiences may be claimed. The extent of these damages usually depends on the overall severity of the accident and how it has affected your life. The greater the impact on your life, the greater your non-economic damages.
Evidence We Need to Prove Your Personal Injury Case in Ladson
Evidence can be unpredictable. In some cases, it might consist mostly of physical evidence from the accident scene. In other cases, it might consist mostly of testimony or records relating to the accident. The evidence you need will be specific to your accident and situation, and a lawyer should help you determine what you need and how to get it.
First, we should try to find witnesses who were present when you were injured or have some other personal knowledge that is relevant to your case. If you were hurt in a car accident, drivers in other vehicles who stopped to help might be called to testify about what they saw. If we believe the driver was intoxicated, we might look for witnesses who were at the bar with the defendant shortly before they got behind the wheel. While they did not see the accident, they might testify about how many drinks they saw the defendant consume.
We should also obtain copies of your medical records from when you were treated for your injuries. If your injuries are severe, complex, or disputed by the defendant, your medical records may prove exactly how you were hurt and how your injuries have affected you. We may also need a doctor to review your records and explain them on the witness stand.
Other evidence may depend on what kind of facts are in dispute. If the defendant agrees that certain details about the accident are true, there is no need to find evidence to prove those facts as both parties already agree that they are true. However, if the defendant disputes certain facts that we claim are true, we must find evidence to prove them.
Speak to Our Ladson Personal Injury Attorneys to Get Legal Help Now
Call our personal injury lawyers with Rice Law at (803) 219-4906 to get a confidential case evaluation free of charge.