Harrisonburg Personal Injury Lawyer
Getting hurt in any type of accident can put a damper on your day-to-day plans, even if the physical harm that incident causes will heal completely over time. Between new financial expenses, missed personal and professional opportunities, and lingering physical and emotional consequences, a single accident could have a prolonged and profound effect on you—to say nothing of how life-altering an incident that results in permanent disability or disfigurement could be.
If you want to exercise your legal right to demand compensation from the party responsible for your injuries, getting help from a Harrisonburg personal injury lawyer should be a top priority. Personal injury litigation can be complex and time-consuming whether it ends with a private settlement or a court verdict, and going into it without a seasoned attorney’s guidance is generally a recipe for disaster.
Personal Injury Covers a Wide Range of Claims
Personal injury law covers the largest category of civil court lawsuits. It is essential that the injured party finds legal representation that has experience in all areas of civil law. Some of the personal injury claims our Harrisonburg attorneys handle include:
- Car, truck, and motorcycle wrecks
- Bicycle and pedestrian accidents
- Boat and bus crashes
- Medical negligence
- Nursing home abuse
- Workplace accidents
- Slip and falls
- Dog bites
- Premises liability issues such as negligent security
- Defective products
- Dangerous drugs
Regardless of the type of incident, our team is prepared to help conduct a thorough investigation, work with insurance companies, and handle civil court filings if necessary.
What Makes Personal Injury Claims in Harrisonburg Complicated?
In many respects, personal injury cases work the same in Harrisonburg as they do anywhere else in the country. Like other states, Virginia civil law mostly revolves around the concept of legal negligence, under which a person may bear legal and financial liability for harm they cause inadvertently by breaching a duty they had to act reasonably under certain circumstances.
However, while the basic components of liability are pretty straightforward, actually proving that a breach of duty exists and that it was the direct and primary cause of specific compensable losses can be extraordinarily complicated. This is made even harder in Virginia thanks to the “pure contributory negligence” system state courts follow, under which plaintiffs who are at all to blame for their own injuries—even by the tiniest amount compared to the defendant(s) in their claim—cannot recover any compensation whatsoever.
It is also worth noting that Code of Virginia §8.01-243 sets a statutory filing deadline of two years on most forms of personal injury litigation, which means injured parties generally have no more than 24 months after discovering their injuries to start taking legal action. For these and many other reasons, retaining a skilled Harrisonburg personal injury attorney quickly after a serious accident can be absolutely essential to preserving a victim’s rights.
Recoverable Damages in a Successful Personal Injury Case
Assuming there are no issues with contributory fault or filing deadlines, a successful personal injury claim could allow an injured party to recover for any form of harm they can connect directly to the accident they were involved in. Importantly, this includes not only objective losses like medical bills, property damage, and missed work income, but also “non-economic” losses like pain and suffering that are subjective in nature.
In cases involving particularly egregious negligence or intentionally malicious conduct, a court may elect to impose punitive damages against a defendant on top of whatever compensatory damages they are liable for based on the plaintiff’s unique circumstances. As a personal injury lawyer in Harrisonburg could explain further, VA Code §8.01-38.1 sets a cap of $350,000 on punitive damages for all personal injury claims, meaning that a court cannot award any more than that number regardless of what specific malicious actions a defendant took.
The Time Limit for Bringing a Personal Injury Claim
The court limits the time frame in which the plaintiff must file a claim in civil court for personal injury cases. Under Virginia Code § 8.01-243, the injured party must file the lawsuit within two years. However, there are exceptions in some instances, such as if the injured party is a minor or mentally incapacitated. A qualified attorney could help ensure time restrictions are met and could further explain the scenarios in which an exception might be possible.
Talk to a Harrisonburg Personal Injury Attorney Today
The idea of pursuing civil compensation through a settlement demand or lawsuit can be understandably intimidating, particularly if you have never dealt with any kind of civil litigation before. Given how important this recovery could be to protecting your future prospects, though, you should not let your chance to enforce your rights pass you by.
A knowledgeable Harrisonburg personal injury lawyer could offer the support and legal expertise you may need to seek a positive claim resolution. Call today to schedule a meeting.
