Milford Mill, MD Car Accident Lawyer

Car accidents can happen to anyone. Even the most skilled and responsible drivers can have the bad luck of getting injured by another negligent driver. Injuries from car crashes can be quite severe and require a great deal of medical care to treat. The cost of that care can easily skyrocket to incredible amounts. When that happens, many victims of car accidents look to become plaintiffs and seek justice and financial compensation for their injuries.

If you are considering filing a lawsuit after you got injured in a crash, we can help. Our attorneys have handled countless car accident lawsuits, so we know how to pursue your claims with the professionalism and drive to win that they demand.

To get a case analysis from our team of car accident lawyers at no cost to you, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at the number (410) 694-7291.

Who Can I Sue in a Car Accident Claim in Milford Mill, MD?

Deciding what parties you include in your car accident lawsuit is very important to the success of your claim. The law only allows you to get damages from parties that caused your injuries, so suing the incorrect parties is a surefire way to make your claim worse. Who you should sue is entirely dependent on the unique facts and circumstances of your accident, so our car accident lawyers need as much detail as possible when building your case.

Drivers

It is almost always a good idea to include the driver who hit you with their car in your lawsuit. There is a very high likelihood that their negligent conduct led to your accident happening. Drivers can be negligent in many different ways. First, they can be negligent by ignoring traffic laws. Going over the speed limit, drunk driving, and other infractions are considered negligent acts in a court of law. Alternatively, doing something unreasonable – as determined at trial – while on the road is also considered driver negligence.

Employers

If the driver who hit you was doing something related to their job, you may be able to sue their employer under certain circumstances. The idea is that employers are responsible for their employee’s negligent conduct so long as that conduct is related to the employees’ jobs. For example, if a plumber hits you with their company vehicle on the way to repair something, their employer is likely also liable for your injuries. However, if that same plumber hits you in their privately owned car on the way back home after a day on the job, their employer is probably not liable because that is not sufficiently work-related.

Car Designers and Manufacturers

In some cases, the car itself may cause the accident with minimal fault on the part of the driver. In those cases, you can sue a vehicle designer or manufacturer for a defect in the car that injured you.

Government Entities

Under some circumstances, you may be able to sue state or local government entities for your injuries. This usually is the case when a car crash is the result of a road in a state of disrepair. There are some special considerations for suing government entities, so it is important to bring up that prospect with our attorneys early on.

Damages in Summerfield, MD Car Accident Lawsuits

When you file your lawsuit, the end goal is to get damages from the defendant to compensate you for your injuries. Damages are how courts try to put the plaintiff back in the financial and physical state they were in before they were injured in their accident. Of course, in many cases, it is not possible to restore the plaintiff to their original physical state because of the extent of their injuries, so financial compensation is used as a substitute. In a car accident lawsuit, you can ask for compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages can be further broken down into economic and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages

Economic damages are based on things that have actual monetary value. Items such as medical bills for hospital stays, surgery, and long-term treatment fall under this category. Additionally, property damage, such as repair costs for your car, is considered something you can seek economic damages for. Also, you can get economic damages for lost wages. This can take a couple of different forms. First, if you had to take time away from your job to focus on recovering from your injuries, that can factor into your damages. Second, if you have to switch jobs or careers to one that pays you less, you can factor the difference in pay into your damages claim. Finally, if your injuries are so severe that you are rendered unable to work at all, you can get damages based on a projection of your future income for the rest of your career.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are tougher to quantify than economic damages in that there is less physical evidence of their value. A car repair bill says how much it costs, but there is no bill for how painful getting hit by a car is or an invoice you receive every time you get anxious because of the accident. These types of effects of a car accident are often lumped into something called “pain and suffering,” for which you can request damages. However, you and our car accident attorneys will have to come up with a value for these kinds of damages and convince the court accordingly.

Punitive Damages

Thus far, we have covered compensatory damages, which are meant to, as the name would suggest, compensate you for your condition because of the car accident. Punitive damages, on the other hand, are meant to punish the defendant. In Maryland, you have to prove that the defendant was malicious or intentional in their conduct – not just merely negligent – under the standard set in Phillip Morris Inc. v. Angeletti. Depending on the particulars of your case, this may be tricky to do. Moreover, you must request punitive damages in the initial filings of your claim, so be sure to discuss the prospect of seeking punitive damages early in the legal process with our attorneys.

Call Our Milford Mill, MD Car Accident Lawyers Right Away

Contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s car accident lawyers today by calling (410) 694-7291 to get a free review of your claim.