What is Personal Injury?
Personal injury is a legal term used to describe injury to the body, the mind or the emotions, as differentiated from injury sustained by property. Most commonly, personal injury is used in reference to a lawsuit within tort law wherein the plaintiff’s injury is alleged to have occurred through the negligence of the defendant party. The term is also used in cases of slander or libel.
Personal injury covers a wide panoply of claims: road traffic accidents, accidents at work, tripping accidents, assault claims, accidents in the home, product defect accidents and holiday accidents. Personal injury also covers medical and dental accidents and conditions that are often classified as industrial disease cases, including asbestosis and peritoneal mesothelioma, chest diseases (e.g., emphysema, pneumoconiosis, silicosis, chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic obstructive airways disease), vibration white finger, occupational deafness, occupational stress, contact dermatitis, and repetitive strain injury cases.
Personal injury cases can become extremely complex – as in the instance of medical malpractice cases – making having a solicitor vital in such cases.
Should the negligence of the defendant party be proven, the plaintiff may be entitled to monetary compensation. Often the solicitor’s fee is payable as a percentage of this compensation, payable upon resolution of the case.
Since the late 1990s, a Conditional Fee Agreement system has existed in England, wherein a solicitor will take on a personal injury case on the understanding that if they lose the case, the client will not have to pay the lawyer’s costs. Should the lawyer win the case, however, the solicitor is entitled to their standard fee plus a “success fee.” This agreement has come to be described as No win, no fee.
The amount of compensation payable in a personal injury case is dependent upon the severity of the sustained injury. The highest injury settlements will tend to be awarded to the more serious injuries causing intense physical pain and suffering such as broken bones, severed limbs or brain damage, etc.
In addition to compensation payable for the injuries themselves, compensation can be awarded for detrimental effects the injuries have had on an individual’s life. Such can be compensated for over and above the award for the injury itself. This is referred to as loss of amenity. Similarly, if, as a result of the injury, there is an inability to do work that was previously thoroughly enjoyed by the individual, further compensation can be awarded for loss of congenial employment.
Share:
| Tweet | 
|
© Copyright 2012 Pearson Rowe - Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority No. 62920.