Greenville Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury is a category of law that deals with personal injury or wrongdoing done to you or a loved one by a negligent party.

Negligence is a legal concept, meaning that the negligent party failed to exercise the ordinary standard of care a reasonably prudent person would have exercised. If the negligence was responsible for and caused your injuries, the negligent party is liable, meaning they bear financial responsibility for them. Negligent parties can be a person or an organization, such as a company, a store owner, or a rental organization. A personal injury lawyer can help you or a loved one in several ways:

• We can negotiate a just settlement with the negligent party’s insurance companies.
• We can bring a personal injury lawsuit in civil court for a just settlement.

Insurance companies have an arsenal of methods to keep them from paying you as much as your claim is worth. They may paint you as the negligent party rather than their insured. They may state that your injuries are less significant than they are. They can delay a claim until you’re desperate and willing to settle for a low amount.

Conversely, they can offer an early settlement but one worth far less than it should be, so you’ll jump at it. They realize that injured people often have medical bills piling up and sometimes cannot work, so their financial situation may cause significant stress. Insurance companies use it to their advantage.

If an insurance company won’t pay a just claim, it is sometimes possible to take them to court. Personal injury suits in court can also be brought against negligence parties, whether an insurance company is involved or not.

If you are eligible for SSDI, you can file the paperwork yourself. However, you can benefit from working with an attorney. SSDI claims are often denied. Sometimes, the denials are for minor reasons, such as incomplete paperwork or the wrong form. But the denials mean you won’t get benefits, no matter how trivial the reason. If your case is denied, a lawyer can appeal the denial. If the appeal is successful, you’ll receive benefits.

If you suffered injury or harm, you can schedule a free first consultation with a personal injury lawyer. The lawyer will then take the time to hear what happened, who caused it, and how you were injured. Personal injury attorneys will give you advice on steps to take.

Most take cases they believe are winnable, and many work on a contingency fee basis. Contingency means they are paid out of the eventual settlement you receive, so you don’t pay anything unless your case is successful.

Personal injury cases can only be brought if another party caused the injury or harm. If you have evidence of another party causing the harm, bring it to the initial consultation.

Potential forms of evidence include:

• Police report of a car, motorcycle, pedestrian, or truck accident
• Pictures of the accident scene from a smartphone or camera
• Surveillance footage of the scene, if available
• Eyewitness testimony
• Records of your injuries from an emergency room, doctor, or medical facility
• Pictures of your injuries taken with a smartphone or camera
• Records of how the injury affects your life, including work records and medical records

Before the initial consultation, write down how you were injured, where, and by whom or what. Describe how the injury has affected you, including your ability to work, family life, and do things you enjoy.

Then, tell the lawyer all these things. If you do not have evidence, don’t worry. Lawyers may work with investigators, who can determine the cause of accidents and other harm.

The determinant of a personal injury case isn’t the type of injury but whether another party is liable for the injuries. Nearly any injury can occur in a personal injury case, including:

• Cuts
• Bruises (contusions)
• Sprains
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Spinal cord injury
• Internal injuries
• Loss of limb(s)
• Burns
• Loss of sight or hearing
• Internal organ damage
• Neck injuries
• Back injuries
• Scarring or disfigurement
• Soft tissue injuries

Kentucky law allows personal injury victims to receive damage compensation in the following categories.

• Medical bills – Including bills for doctor’s visits, emergency room visits, surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, prescription medication, and more
• Future medical bills – If doctors expect your injury to need future medical treatment
• Wages lost from work – If your injury caused you to lose time from work
• Future wages lost from work – If experts believe that you will either need to work at a different job or less
• Loss of future earnings capacity – If you can’t work at a previous job because of your injury
• Property damage – If your injury resulted in damage to property, such as a car or home
• Pain and suffering – For physical pain, mental and emotional distress and anguish, and other noneconomic losses

It’s not possible to predict how much damage compensation a specific case will receive because many factors are involved. However, some general observations can be made about how insurance companies and civil courts arrive at compensation amounts.

Economic losses are calculated straightforwardly by adding up your financial losses. Your attorney will add your medical bills (including necessary transportation), for example, plus any time lost from work and any property damage. Time lost from work is calculated by multiplying the amount of time lost by your average wages.

If you are expected to have economic losses in the future, either from medical bills or wages lost from work, your lawyer will get expert testimony about the likely figures. Doctors, for example, testify about the recommended course of treatment for your injuries. Costs are calculated for the treatment. Doctors may also testify about your ability to work, as may your employers.

All current and future costs are tabulated to arrive at one part of your compensation.

Catastrophic injuries have an immediate, lasting negative impact on the victim’s life. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) or spinal cord injury, for example, can both make the person unable to walk again. Injuries that exert significant and lasting harm to an individual, such as loss of an eye or a limb, may result in higher settlements or judgments.

Courts may award higher amounts than insurance companies. Insurance companies want to protect their profits and their insured, while juries may show more sympathy to you, the plaintiff.

Almost every kind of accident or event has the potential to injure or harm another person. Common causes of personal injury include the following:

Vehicle accidents – In 2022, 29,451 people were injured in vehicle accidents in Kentucky, and 5,830 accidents caused fatalities. Pedestrian accidents – Nationwide, 137,000 pedestrians go to emergency departments for injuries every year, and 5,977 pedestrians die in collisions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Kentucky, more than 1,000 times per year, a vehicle hits a pedestrian. The overwhelming majority of times, it causes an injury, and about 10 percent of the time, these accidents prove fatal.

Premises liability accidents – Owners and landlords of public premises (stores, malls, rental apartments, hotels, theme parks, sporting arenas, and more) have a duty to make sure their premises are safe. If they are not, the owners and landlords can be liable. In Kentucky, if a private homeowner invites you over, they must warn you about any hazards on the property and fix any known issues that can cause harm. This means they must warn visitors of hazards on their property and fix any known issues to prevent accidents.

Premises liability injuries include those sustained while tumbling down poorly maintained stairs, tripping and falling in a store if liquid spills are not cleaned up or surrounded with warning signs, in swimming pool accidents, from malfunctioning theme park rides, and more.

Dog bites—Dog bites can cause serious harm, especially to small children or to any person attacked by a large, aggressive dog.

Kentucky’s dog bite laws operate under strict liability, meaning that a dog’s owner is responsible for any injury the dog causes. The victim does not have to prove negligence.

This differs from laws in other states, where liability may depend on whether the dog behaved aggressively before or the owner took reasonable care in controlling the dog. You do not have to prove either of these things in Kentucky; the owner is still liable.

If you are injured in a personal injury case, you must bring a lawsuit within a certain period of time, known as the statute of limitations. Courts will not hear cases filed after the statute of limitations is up.

The standard statute of limitations in Kentucky is one year for personal injury cases. The time starts on the date of the injury. In other words, if you were injured in an accident on March 2, 2024, you have until March 2, 2025, to bring a case. For traffic accidents, it’s two years. The statute of limitations may be extended for minors and those with disabilities, or when receiving PIP benefits. But don’t wait. During that time, evidence can disappear, and memories can fade. The sooner you call us, the better off you’ll make your case.

If a loved one dies as a result of injuries suffered, Kentucky law offers redress in the form of a legal suit known as wrongful death. Essentially, wrongful death relies on roughly the same negligence standard as personal injury. Another party must have caused the injuries leading to death, and it is equivalent to a personal injury suit, but for a person who is no longer alive to bring a suit.

In Kentucky, a wrongful death suit must be brought by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. If there isn’t one when the injured person dies, the court needs to appoint one if a wrongful death claim is to be brought.

The compensation, however, is oriented toward surviving family members, generally spouses, children, or parents (if there is no spouse or children). They can sue for damages for the loss of care, companionship, support, and guidance they received from the deceased.

The estate can seek funeral and burial expenses.

If you need more information or advice, call our Greenville personal injury lawyers today