Lake Shore, MD Personal Injury Lawyer

Getting injured is never part of anyone’s plan. However, serious injuries happen to many people every day, which can leave victims facing hefty hospital charges and lengthy recovery periods. Many injury victims can feel frustrated and despondent in the face of dealing with their injuries and a potential ensuing legal battle.

Fortunately, our attorneys can help. We can gather evidence for your case, prepare a strong argument and strategy, and fight for you in court so that you can get the best legal outcome possible after you get injured.

To have a free case analysis from our personal injury lawyers, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291.

Injuries Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You with in Lake Shore, MD

It goes without saying that injuries come in all shapes and sizes. Generally, an “injury” refers to something like a broken bone, cut, or bruise in common parlance. Below are some of the injuries and types of accidents our personal injury lawyers can represent you for in Lake Shore, MD.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

A very frequent cause of personal injury lawsuits is motor vehicle accidents in Maryland. Truck drivers, bus drivers, and ordinary people driving their own privately owned cars all make mistakes and get into accidents. The legal term for these mistakes is “negligence.” Negligence basically means that someone was careless and, as a result, got someone else injured. Drivers can be negligent by running red lights, failing to use turn signals or otherwise notify other motorists of what they are about to do, speeding, driving drunk, or otherwise failing to follow traffic rules.

Motor vehicle accidents can easily cause nasty injuries like broken bones and traumatic brain injuries. Heavier vehicles like trucks or buses are even more likely to cause serious injuries because of the relative size of those kinds of vehicles. On the other end of the spectrum, individuals riding motorcycles may be more likely to get injured since they are more exposed than people driving sedans or SUVs. The same goes for pedestrians hit by motor vehicles.

Premises Liability

If you get injured on someone else’s property, you may be able to sue the property owner. Property owners have a legal duty, or obligation, to keep their properties safe for people who may enter them. So, for example, if a supermarket does not put a “wet floor” sign over a spill and you get injured after slipping on the liquid, you can sue the supermarket on a theory of premises liability.

Medical Malpractice

A medical malpractice lawsuit is a type of personal injury case where the defendant is a medical professional. The negligence in these cases is that a medical professional deviated from the accepted professional standard and injured you as a result.

Medical malpractice cases can be very complicated and rely heavily on expert opinions. For that reason, you should speak with our lawyers further about these kinds of cases.

Wrongful Death

Unfortunately, the grim truth is that sometimes serious injuries result in the death of the victim. When that happens, their loved ones can file a wrongful death lawsuit to get some sort of recompense for the loss. Instead of suing for your own injuries, you are suing for the lost income, love, and affection from a deceased loved one. There are some things that are slightly different in wrongful death claims than in ordinary personal injury lawsuits, so you should speak about this with our lawyers.

Who is Allowed to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Lake Shore, MD?

It may surprise some people to learn that not just anyone can file a personal injury lawsuit. In the legal world, to file a lawsuit, you need something called “standing.” Essentially, the plaintiff needs to have some sort of stake in the lawsuit in order to file it. In the case of personal injury suits, this usually means that the plaintiff has to be the one injured.

However, there are limited circumstances where a party other than the person directly injured can sue on their behalf. The most common is when a minor is injured. In those instances, their parent or guardian is considered to have standing to file a lawsuit and can sue on their behalf.

The Statute of Limitations in Lake Shore, MD Personal Injury Lawsuits

Just as there are limits on who is allowed to file personal injury lawsuits, there are also limits on how long you have to file the claim at all. These laws are called “statutes of limitations.” Each state has its own statute of limitations laws, and there will be different time periods for different kinds of lawsuits. For example, in the criminal sphere of law, serious crimes will have no limit on when a case can be brought. However, in personal injury lawsuits, the period within which you can file a lawsuit is finite. Under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 5-101, plaintiffs have three years from the time they are injured to file a personal injury lawsuit.

There are some limited exceptions to this time period, however. For example, people who get injured when they are under the age of 18 have the statutory period put on hold until they reach the age of majority. Note, though, that issues can come up if a parent or guardian has filed a lawsuit on the injured person’s behalf and then the victim wants to file their own suit after they turn 18. The considerations surrounding these kinds of situations can be complicated, so you should speak with our personal injury lawyers if this applies to you.

Talk with a Lake Shore, MD Personal Injury Lawyer Right Away

Do not hesitate to call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 and speak to our personal injury lawyers.