A personal injury exists as a result of someone else's negligence or wrongdoing.  Personal injury laws are on the books to protect the public from the effects others' actions may have on their lives.  Physical injuries often result after car accidents, slip-and-falls, trucking accidents or because of defective medical products.  Emotional injuries however are also included within personal injury law and you may be entitled to receive compensation even if you have not been physically injured. Emotional injuries, for example, may be suffered due to libel, slander or defamation of character. 

Elements

Certain elements must be proven in order to have a valid personal injury claim, including:  

Duty. The individual or entity being sued in a personal injury case must have had a duty to the plaintiff.

Breach. Once it is found that a duty did exist, a breach of that duty must be proven.  Breach of duty simply means that, given the specific circumstances, the individual or entity failed to exercise reasonable care.  The standard of reasonable care is established on a case-by-case basis, depending on both the defendant and the circumstances.

Causation. In order to prove causation, it must be shown that the injury the plaintiff is claiming to have suffered was a direct result of the breach of duty by the defendant. In other words, if the plaintiff would have suffered the injury even if the defendant had not breached his or her duty, causation does not exist. This is the most difficult element to prove in a personal injury case.

Damages. A plaintiff must be able to show that damages were incurred as a result of the injury suffered. Damages may include, but are certainly not limited to, monetary damages such as medical bills, loss of future wages or emotional damages such as the loss of quality of life.

If you or a loved one would like to learn more about personal injury law, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Kodner, Watkins, Muchnick, Weigley and Brison.

 Please contact Todd Muchnick at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  to discuss the details of your case.