How Do I Know Whether or Not I Have Grounds for a Personal Injury Suit?

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If you were injured in an auto accident, The Barrera Law Firm can provide a free legal consultation
You won’t know for certain until you talk to an attorney. This is because many possibilities exist regarding what you are entitled to. And until you are able to speak with a lawyer, you won’t know exactly what your rights are.

What constitutes personal injury?

Personal injury is any harm, injury or damages sustained as a result of someone else’s negligence.

What is negligence?

Negligence is when someone has breached a standard of care. Because of that breach, that person directly or personally caused the injuries of another individual.

How soon after injury do I have to file a lawsuit?

The answer is, as soon as possible. The reason for this is that the evidence related to the personal injury that might help prove the claim may spoil or get destroyed.

Once hired, an attorney will immediately put the person or company at fault on notice that they are not to discard any evidence or allow any evidence to be lost or otherwise thrown away.

Does any other basis for personal injury liability exist aside from negligence?

Yes. There is something called products liability. This usually has to do with either a design or manufacturing defect or a failure to warn of a foreseeable risk of harm. Other cases exist for other causes of action: these are called strict liability and are regulated by Texas law.

What if I am partly at fault in a personal injury case?

Texas is a contributory negligence state. This means that so long as the injuring party is at least 51% liable, then a court will assess damages in proportion to the other party’s liability. So even if you are partly at fault, this does not preclude you from being successful in a personal injury lawsuit.

The intention behind personal injury law is to restore the injured party to the position that person would have been in had the harm not occurred. The courts don’t wish to reward someone who is grossly at fault: at the same time, they also don’t wish to deprive someone of damages if the person had a minor contribution to the negligent action in question.

Must a personal injury case go to court?

No, not all personal injury cases go to court. In fact, very few of them do. If an attorney is well-educated on pretrial matters, sometimes it can actually be to the client’s benefit not to go to court.

Is it best to hire an attorney in the city/locale where the injury occurred?

Not always. Some attorneys are not suited for that locale because they have too many connections to the area. This might make them less willing to pursue a case as aggressively as they should.

Sometimes, an attorney is better suited for the case that is not from the area where the injury occurred. This is because such an individual is more likely to come to a case with a more unbiased view and is also more likely to pursue it more aggressively.

In the end, selection of a personal injury lawyer will depend on the complexity of the case as well as circumstances surrounding it.

What is the difference between a class action lawsuit, a civil suit, and a criminal suit where personal injury cases are concerned?

In a criminal suit, the state brings charges for violations of the state or federal criminal code. A class action lawsuit is where a group of individuals are similarly situated with a similar injury (it’s more convenient for a court to take on these cases en masse than it would be to take them one at a time). A civil suit deals with an injury or a non-criminal matter.

Have you been injured? Are you in need of legal consultation or an attorney? Contact The Barrera Law Firm at (956) 428-2822.

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