Personal Injury Law Overview

The laws determining personal injury cases can be complicated because of specific definitions of negligence in civil law. Just because you had an accident on an institution's property, does not mean that they are liable for those injuries. In fact, even if a worker injured you, the company may still not be liable if you were in a place you were not supposed to and a prudent worker would not think you were there. Acting unlawfully or carelessly yourself is the surest way to not recover damages in case of an injury. 

For example, lets take a case where you were trespassing on a construction site to skateboard on it with your friends and a brick falls on you. If the judge determines that the worker who caused the brick to fall off had no way of knowing that you were there, then he did not have a duty to act prudently to protect you. Even if it was determined that the worker did act negligently in causing the brick to fall, the court might say that you were also comparatively negligent in that you were behaving dangerously by playing on an active construction site. This negligence doctrine can be confusing. It is not the same set of standards that govern criminal laws. If you were involved in an accident that has caused significant injuries, I recommend you see a Denver personal injury lawyer. Usually you can determine in the free consultation if you have a case or not, and what that case might be worth.

Because of the way civil law is structured, losers in court cannot be forced through violence to pay. You may find success in garnishing wages, but a person cannot be threatened with jail time for a civil offense. If the person does not make any money, then your chances of ever recovering are near zero. However the employers of employees who cause negligent accidents are often liable. Usually the only people who can pay large injury lawsuits are organizations and companies with insurance. In most cases, the insurance company tries to determine if there is a valid claim, and then negotiates with the party on a settlement. This keeps the case out of court.

The total amount of an award for personal injury is not just the cost of medical bills. You may also recover lost work time, pain, and sever mental anguish. If the defendant behaved in an especially immoral or dangerous way that the court would like to punish, they may also award additional punitive damages designed to deter other from committing similar torts. All of these are just guidelines if the case goes to insurance negotiation. Then the ultimate settlement is what the two parties agree upon. As the insurance company has a team of lawyers paid to give out as little money as possible, it is a good idea to have a  Denver injury lawyer to represent your side of the claim.