While accidents happen every day, that does not mean they should happen in situations where reasonable care and consideration could have prevented them completely. If you have been seriously injured because of another person’s carelessness or recklessness, taking prompt and proactive legal action against them could be essential to protecting your long-term prospects and overall quality of life.
However, pursuing civil litigation over any kind of accident can be tricky, especially if you try to go through it without a capable attorney’s guidance. If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, speak with a Greenwich personal injury lawyer about your options. With over $400 million in verdicts and settlements awarded for our clients, our committed team at Berkowitz Hanna is ready to fight for you.
The legal premise at the heart of most personal injury cases is negligence—in short, the idea that someone who accidentally injures someone else should be liable to pay for any consequences that injury has for the injured person. More specifically, a person is negligent if they have an explicit or implicit duty to follow certain rules and/or act a certain way, fail to fulfill that duty, and directly cause an accident resulting directly in physical injury as a result of their misconduct.
Negligence can take various forms and cause physical harm in numerous ways, commonly including:
It is worth noting also that people who get hurt in accidents like these can be found partially liable for causing their own damages if they were negligent in some way. As a Greenwich personal injury attorney can explain, Connecticut General Statutes §52-572h allows courts to restrict the value of a plaintiff’s damage award in proportion to their share of total fault compared to all defendants, and furthermore bars any plaintiff found 51 percent or more to blame from getting any restitution whatsoever.
Assuming the injured party does not hold fault for an accident, Connecticut state law imposes no restrictions on the total amount of compensation any single plaintiff may recover for accident-related losses. With that in mind, a comprehensive settlement or lawsuit should account for both economic and non-economic forms of negligence, including medical expenses, lost work income, property loss, physical and psychological suffering, and lost overall enjoyment of life.
Even if an accident will have lifelong repercussions, it is vital for an injured person to start pursuing litigation no later than two years following that accident. Anyone who waits longer than this to file suit may be barred under C.G.S. §52-584 from ever getting any compensation for that particular incident. Getting in touch with a Greenwich personal injury attorney as soon as possible can help ensure that all relevant legal deadlines are met.
Getting hurt because another person acted irresponsibly can be both immensely frustrating and immensely disruptive to every part of your life. Overcoming both and ensuring you get the financial recovery you deserve for your damages could be much easier with seasoned legal counsel guiding you along the way.
A conversation with a Greenwich personal injury lawyer can put you on track towards getting the payments you need and deserve. Call us at Berkowitz Hanna to get started.
Berkowitz Hanna
