Personal injury law attracts many lawyers. Some get into it because they like the local fame they can achieve. They might have their face on bus stop benches and billboards all around town. Others know they can get steady work through this legal niche since people sue each other and companies all the time if these entities injure them.
We’ll discuss some common personal injury cases lawyers take on right now. These attorneys might see these cases, or similar ones, again and again during their careers.
Car Crash Lawsuits
2019 saw more traffic deaths than the past 30 years. You could certainly speculate regarding why that happened, but whatever the reason, traffic injuries and fatalities often trigger lawsuits.
If someone can’t control their car on a wet road and jump onto the sidewalk or cross the center line, they might hurt or kill someone. That’s tragic, but if they broke no laws, the other driver or injured party probably won’t sue them.
However, if that person hopped the curb or crossed the center line because they ingested alcohol, they might face a civil lawsuit, alongside criminal charges. They might get some jail time, but they may also pay the injured party steep financial penalties.
If someone talks on their smartphone while driving and hurts or kills someone, the injured party might sue them. Distracted driving kills and injures many people every year.
Personal injury lawyers see people sue each other over car wrecks all the time. Some attorneys even take these cases exclusively since they’re so frequent.
Product Liability Lawsuits
When a company creates a new product, they must test it thoroughly before they release it to the public. Their product testing department must say it’s safe. It should not contain parts that can harm someone or chemicals that make them sick.
Still, defective products make it onto store shelves and into homes all the time. Sometimes, the creators don’t realize a product has some defect until it’s too late. At that point, these products can harm the public, and lawsuits usually result.
These lawsuits might become class action cases if a single product hurt enough people. You might also have a few isolated incidents. Certain products harmed people, but most functioned correctly.
In either case, a lawyer who takes on these lawsuits will defend their client in court and get money for them if they can. They will mention this person’s pain and suffering.
Sometimes, the manufacturing company will settle with the injured party or parties out of court. Their counsel might tell them that’s the best idea. They may also feel the injured party doesn’t have a strong case, and they’ll continue to the jury’s verdict to see whether they can win the lawsuit.
Whether a product’s creator settles out of court or the company loses the lawsuit and must pay the injured party, the lawyer gets their money. They might get 30-40% of the winnings in most cases.
Slip-and-Fall Cases
Slip-and-fall cases have existed for decades, and they’re still going strong. That’s because people slip, trip, or skid when on a company’s property all the time. They slip and fall in grocery stores, schools, hardware stores, or movie theaters. Anywhere they fall and injure themselves where there’s not a “wet floor” sign might trigger a lawsuit.
These cases don’t usually get through the whole trial process and reach a jury’s verdict. The defendant usually settles out of court. If the injured party has a competent lawyer, they’ll usually walk away with money from their lawsuit. The cash they get might pay their medical bills, and it may cover their pain and suffering as well.
Dog Bite Lawsuits
Dog bite lawsuits can get very contentious. They usually happen if a person owns a dog that gets loose and runs around the neighborhood. It might bite a cyclist or jogger. It may bite a child or another dog.
You may also have a mail carrier or UPS driver delivering a package who goes onto someone’s property, and a dog bites them. Maybe a dog bites someone in a dog park.
When these situations occur, the person who the dog attacked probably has some emotional scarring. They may have a nasty dog bite, and that’s painful, but some people develop PTSD following dog bites.
They may fear dogs now, and they might not even like leaving their house. They may cringe whenever they see a dog or hear one barking out in the neighborhood somewhere.
Lawyers can argue that this person needs medical bill money, but they also need cash compensating them for their pain, suffering, and emotional trauma. These cases often become bitter and divisive. Neighbors can turn against one another or even family members if they face off in court over a dog bite.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice cases happen fairly often as well. Medical malpractice lawsuits occur when a doctor, nurse, orderly, or someone else working at or for a medical facility does something blatantly wrong and hurts someone. You may also have wrongful death lawsuits brought by the surviving family members in these instances.
Proving medical malpractice isn’t always easy. The term means the injured party must prove that the person or medical facility that harmed them didn’t meet the care standard that the medical community determines should exist.
An injured person might feel a doctor or medical facility didn’t meet the care standard, but can they prove it? To do so, their lawyer might need eyewitnesses who saw what happened and expert witnesses who can explain the care standard and why this person or medical facility did not meet it.
They must explain the care standard and what happened so that a layperson can understand it. That’s challenging, but if the lawsuit ends and favors the plaintiff, they might get millions. Their lawyer gets their fair share as well.
These cases play out in the court system daily, and personal injury lawyers help the injured parties.
