Williamsburg Personal Injury Lawyer
Being injured in an accident can leave a person feeling hopeless and confused about what to do next, especially when an at-fault party shows no willingness to take responsibility for his or her actions. This is where a dedicated Williamsburg personal injury attorney can make all the difference, by working on the victim’s behalf to hold the at-fault party accountable, either by engaging in settlement proceedings or by taking a case to trial.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Unlike criminal proceedings, wherein prosecutors seek criminal penalties for those who break the law, personal injury claims are filed by the injured parties themselves in an attempt to recoup their monetary losses from the person who caused their injuries in the first place. While they could stem from a variety of incidents, most personal injury cases involve:
- Car, truck, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents and claims of driver negligence;
- The use of products that were either defectively designed, or produced improperly by a manufacturer;
- Animal attacks, including dog bites caused by someone else’s unrestrained animal;
- Negligence on the part of a medical professional, who may have injured someone through misdiagnosis, a surgical error, or another mistake;
- The neglect or abuse of nursing homes towards their residents;
- Slip and fall accidents on a business owner’s property resulting from a failure to maintain the premises, or a failure to repair dangerous hazards; and
- Claims of wrongful death, which are filed by the loved ones of accident victims who succumbed to their injuries.
Who a plaintiff files a claim against will be dictated in large part by the type of accident in which he or she was involved. Potentially liable parties include product manufacturers, doctors and other medical professionals, dog owners, motorists, and property owners. Please call one of our dedicated Williamsburg personal injury lawyers to learn more about the ins and outs of pursuing a personal legal claim against the individual or entity who caused your own injury.
Proving Negligence and Damages
Plaintiffs who can prove that someone else’s carelessness, mistake, or deliberate act of wrongdoing caused their injury could be entitled to monetary compensation for their losses. This will, however, require a thorough investigation into the case, as well as strong evidence. Someone who was injured because another driver ran a red light, for instance, may need to obtain a copy of the police report created by the responding officers, collect video footage from traffic cameras or nearby businesses, gather eyewitness testimony, take photos of the damage, and obtain expert testimony. Besides proving negligence, however, plaintiffs will also need to demonstrate causation, or prove that the defendant’s actions led to the particular injury in question. Expert medical testimony may be required at this stage, as will copies of all diagnosis and treatment-related records. The help of an attorney could prove especially crucial during this phase of a personal injury proceeding.
Dedicated Williamsburg Personal Injury Lawyers
For an evaluation of your own case and an explanation of your legal options for recovering compensation after an accident, please call one of the dedicated attorneys at Cessna & George Law Firm today.
