We are living in a dangerous world. People are injured in accidents every day. They get injured when they are shopping and while working. They may eat food that makes them sick or slip on an icy patch of sidewalk. When another person's negligence causes a person's injuries, the injured party will need to seek the assistance of a personal injury lawyer.
There are several different categories of personal injury cases. You should hire an attorney who specializes in the type of injury case you have.
Auto Accidents
There are about 1700 car accidents in the state of Georgia every day. Most people will be in a couple of accidents in their lifetime. In Georgia, the person who is responsible for the accident is responsible for paying the bills that are associated with it.
The Peach State has a comparative fault rule when it comes to auto insurance. This means that the amount you get in insurance money will be reduced by the percentage of the accident for which you were responsible. For example, if you were 10% responsible for an accident, you would only be entitled to get compensation for 90% of your accident-related bills. If you were responsible for more than 50% of an accident, you would get no money.
Slip and Fall Accidents
People who own property have a duty of care to anyone who visits that property. They must make sure that walkways are free of clutter and that wet floors and construction areas are marked off with warning signs. If they have loose floorboards or cracks in the sidewalk, they must repair them or put up warning signs.
Slip and fall accidents often occur in retail stores. Customers will slip on floors where liquid has spilled or trip over something in an aisle. If this happens to you, take a picture of what caused you to fall and file an accident report with the manager of the store. Get the store's insurance information as well.
If you take a spill in a person's home, take a picture of what caused you to fall and get the owner's homeowners insurance information. You should always go to the doctor right after being injured in an accident.
Wrongful Death
If you have lost a loved one in an accident that someone else caused, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit against them. Only family members can file wrongful death suits, and there is a statute of limitation of two years from the date of the death.
Product Liability
Sometimes big companies will make products that hurt people. In some cases, the design of the product may be faulty. In other cases, there is nothing wrong with the design, but the manufacturer will put the product together incorrectly. The product may not come with appropriate warnings, or the instructions may be confusing.
If you have been injured by a faulty product, you will need an attorney who specializes in product liability. These kinds of cases often become class action lawsuits in which multiple people sue a company as a group. Class action lawsuits can result in million-dollar rewards.
