Each year in Georgia thousands of civil lawsuits are filed. Many of them are personal injury cases. Why are these types of cases so common? Well, it’s because, unfortunately, there are many ways in which people suffer injuries in Georgia each year. Motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, defective products, dog attacks and even slip-and-fall accidents can leave Georgia residents with debilitating injuries that may even be serious enough to be life-changing and come with no hope of a full recovery. For injured victims, personal injury lawsuits may be an option to provide at least some help.
Personal injury basics
So, what are the basics of a personal injury lawsuit? Well, negligence is usually the most common basis for a personal injury lawsuit, in which injured victims claim that the party who caused the injury in question – the “defendant” – failed to abide by a duty or responsibility owed to the victim. For example, in a car accident caused by a distracted driver, the negligence in question would be the distracted driver’s failure to pay full attention to the task of driving – which then resulted in a crash that caused injuries.
These terms will usually become very familiar to injured victims pursuing a personal injury lawsuit: duty, breach, causation and damages. These are the elements of almost every personal injury lawsuit of any type, based on any type of injury. A “duty” must exist between the parties – such as doctor-patient in a medical malpractice case, for example – and the injured victim alleges that the defendant “breached” that duty in some way. And, that the breach of the duty directly “caused” the injuries – or “damages” – in question.
If you have been injured due to another party’s negligence or recklessness, you may have a valid personal injury legal claim to pursue. For more information about how we attempt to help Georgia residents with these types of cases, please visit the personal injury overview section of our law firm’s website.
