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Union City Personal Injury Lawyer

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    The potential for accidents and injuries lurks around every corner. You might be hurt in a collision or injured by a defective product, and the person responsible should have to pay for your damages. An attorney can help you evaluate your accident, how it happened, your damages, and who might be to blame.

    A personal injury case must involve claims for bodily injuries. Common examples of personal injury cases include defective goods, accidents at work, and vehicle crashes, although many other possible cases and claims exist. The purpose of your case is to recover damages, which may involve financial costs of the accident and non-economic injuries for painful experiences like pain and suffering. In less common cases, punitive damages might also be on the table. You should speak to a lawyer about your accident soon. They can help you investigate for evidence, assess your damages, and develop effective legal strategies and arguments to convince a jury that the defendant should be held liable.

    Call (470) 287-3070 and get a confidential case review for free from our Atlanta personal injury lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras.

    Personal Injury Claims Our Legal Team Can Help You with in Union City

    Personal injury claims are incredibly varied. There are so many kinds of accidents and claims that it is impossible for any single attorney to be able to handle every kind of personal injury claim. As such, you need a lawyer who has experience with your specific kind of personal injury. Below are a few examples of the cases our team has handled. Even if you do not see your claim described here, we may still be able to help.

    Faulty Goods and Products

    Your injuries might have been caused by a product or good you recently purchased that did not work as intended. Goods that are poorly designed or damaged during production may malfunction and injure unsuspecting consumers. At best, this can be inconvenient for consumers who spend money on a faulty product. At worst, the consumer might be badly hurt and need emergency medical attention. Some goods, like power tools or certain kitchen appliances, may be especially dangerous if they malfunction. In such cases, our personal injury attorneys can help plaintiffs sue the manufacturers of defective goods for damages.

    Work Accidents

    Accidents are not limited just to our free time. Many people are hurt in accidents while at work. Some jobs are inherently more dangerous, and accidents are more likely. For example, people who work in factories, construction sites, or around heavy machinery may be more vulnerable to injuries if something goes wrong. Even so, people who work in seemingly safe jobs behind a desk may be hurt in workplace accidents. Depending on how the accident happened, employers may be held liable for negligently allowing the work environment to become unsafe.

    Vehicle Collisions

    Some of the most frequently filed personal injury claims are related to car accidents. Car accidents happen all the time, and many drivers are badly hurt. While insurance claims are helpful for some, they may be insufficient or unavailable for others. You may sue the other driver in a personal injury case to recover damages. Some cases are relatively simple and involve only two drivers: the plaintiff and the defendant. Others might be more complex with multiple vehicles and contradictory claims from the people involved. In either scenario, you should seek help from an experienced attorney.

    Recoverable Damages in a Union City Personal Injury Case

    Personal injury claims often involve a whole host of injuries and costs. These should be reflected in your damages claim. The greater your losses, the higher your damages, and the more financial compensation you may be entitled to. Review your damages with a lawyer to make sure that nothing is left out.

    Compensatory Damages

    Compensatory damages are awarded to make up for losses experienced by the plaintiff. Ideally, these damages should return the plaintiff to the situation they were in before becoming injured, at least in a financial sense. Compensatory damages are awarded for economic and non-economic injuries and losses.

    Economic damages include all the ways in which the accident cost you money. For example, if you received medical care for your injuries, your hospital bills should be factored into your damages. These can be quite high for those who need extensive or long-term care for severe injuries. Additionally, your injuries might prevent you from returning to work. In that case, you may claim the value of lost income. If you lost personal property in an accident, like a damaged car in a crash, you can claim the cost of repairs or a replacement.

    Non-economic damages are more amorphous as they are often unrelated to money and unique to the plaintiff. These damages are often referred to as “pain and suffering,” but they are so much more than that. You might claim psychological trauma if the accident was particularly severe or harrowing. Similarly, you might claim emotional distress or psychological injuries like PTSD. If your injuries lead to permanent disabilities, complications, or disfigurement, you may claim damages related to the loss of enjoyment of your life or the reduction in your quality of life.

    Punitive Damages

    In less common cases, the court may award punitive damages to punish defendants. According to O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1(b), punitive damages may be awarded if the plaintiff can prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions in causing the accident were especially shocking or outrageous. Specifically, we must prove that the defendant’s behavior constituted fraud, willful misconduct, malice, oppression, wantonness, or involved such a level of careless behavior as to create a presumption that the defendant was indifferent to the consequences of their actions.

    The burden of proof for punitive damages is high, and they are rarely awarded. Even if your case is eligible for punitive damages, the court might not be convinced by our evidence. Your attorney can assess your case and determine if punitive damages are a realistic possibility.

    Reach Out to Our Union City Personal Injury Lawyers About Your Case

    Call (470) 287-3070 and get a confidential case review for free from our personal injury lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras.