Case Types - Personal Injury Law

Personal Injury Law Background

Concerns a wide area of issues where people have been physically or emotionally injured or killed. The policy of the law is to require all persons and companies to act prudently to avoid injury to others. The injured party who sues for damages is called the plaintiff and the party being sued is the defendant.

To prove a negligence claim, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, that the defendant failed to be reasonably careful, and that damages were caused as a result of that failure. The law is designed to provide for a transfer of the loss from the injured victim to the person responsible for causing the accident. This is based on the notion of fair compensation for the injury. Under the law of New York the defendant may be responsible for covering all losses suffered by the injured party, including lost earnings, medical expenses, pain, suffering, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life. New York is a comparative negligence State.

This means that any fault of the injured victim that contributes to causing the injury will be determined by a jury. The percentage of fault attributed to the victim will then be deducted from the damages awarded.

Damages ordinarily include medical expenses, lost earnings, other out of pocket expenses and pain and suffering for the past, which runs from the date of the accident up to the date of the verdict, as well as for the future. In this regard the life expectancy of the plaintiff is considered by the jury so that an adequate award may be made for the number of years of remaining life that the victim will suffer the losses.