Holding someone else legally liable for an accident can be complicated, especially if you must file your claim while dealing with pain, suffering, and other losses. Even if it seems obvious that someone else is to blame for the accident, you may have substantial trouble proving them at fault if you try to pursue your claim alone.
Fortunately, you do not have to file your lawsuit by yourself if you seek help from an attorney with years of experience helping people like you. Whether your case concludes with a settlement agreement or has to progress to a lawsuit ending with a civil trial, a seasoned Maryland personal injury lawyer could be the steadfast ally you need to protect your legal rights effectively.
Possible Grounds for a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Depending on the circumstances of the accident or the people involved, someone can build a personal injury claim around a few different legal theories. Most of the time, injury claims are constructed around the theory of negligence, which refers to the idea that someone can be held financially responsible for the impact of an accident if the following conditions are true:
- The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care, meaning they had a legally enforceable responsibility to act in a reasonable way
- The defendant breached their duty by not doing something they were required to do or did something unreasonable, careless, reckless, or illegal
- That breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of an accident that likely would not have happened without the defendant’s irresponsible action(s) and an injury resulted from their breach of that duty
Negligence can lead to injuries in many scenarios, from car crashes, motorcycle wrecks, bus collisions, and medical malpractice to incidents like slips, trips, and falls. No matter the circumstances surrounding the accident, assistance from a capable attorney in Maryland can be vital to filing a compelling civil claim. Legal representation could help prove fault, gather supporting evidence, and protect the plaintiff’s legal rights.
Maryland’s Unique Approach to Contributory Fault
One important thing worth noting about personal injury litigation in Maryland is that an injured person being partially at fault for their injury has a much bigger effect on their recovery prospects here than in most other states. This is because of the pure contributory negligence system that civil courts in Maryland follow for personal injury lawsuits.
In most states, a person found partly to blame for causing their injuries through their own negligence can only recover for the portion of their damages caused by someone else’s negligence. In Maryland, though, a plaintiff who has any percentage of contributory fault assigned to them whatsoever is completely prohibited from recovering any civil compensation at all, even if someone else was still primarily to blame for their accident.
Recovering for All Available Damages
After an unexpected accident, plaintiffs can usually work with legal representation to demand compensation for their economic and non-economic losses.
This can include but is not strictly limited to things like:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Personal property damage or loss
- Psychological trauma and emotional anguish
- Lost work income, benefits, or earning capacity
- Short-term and long-term medical bills, as well as disability-related costs of things like wheelchairs and home/vehicle modifications
Importantly, though, Maryland state law places a cap on how much money an individual injured plaintiff can recover for non-economic forms of harm like physical pain and mental suffering. The value of this cap increases every year on October 1 to account for inflation, and unique caps apply to certain types of wrongful death claims.
During a private consultation, a Maryland personal injury attorney can explain how this cap works and what limits might apply to a specific case.
The Benefits of Working With Capable Legal Counsel
There are numerous benefits to seeking help from a seasoned legal representative with a personal injury claim in Maryland, the most obvious of which is the value of having professional legal help with navigating around the kinds of legal and procedural roadblocks mentioned above. Beyond that, though, legal counsel can also provide crucial assistance with the more subjective aspects of a personal injury lawsuit.
For example, insurance companies know every trick there is to pressure injured people into accidentally harming their own claims for compensation, accepting unfavorable settlement terms, or even dropping their cases altogether. Representation from a skilled Maryland injury lawyer can be key to ensuring that insurance adjusters play fair and respect a claimant’s rights through settlement negotiations or—if necessary—a lawsuit in civil court.
Additionally, experienced legal counsel can assist with identifying, tracking down, and preserving important evidence after an accident to prove someone else’s liability. Depending on the circumstances, this could entail anything from tracking down and interviewing eyewitnesses to pulling footage from surveillance or traffic cameras to working with experts in retrospective accident reconstruction and subpoenaing private information like cell phone records.
Contact a Maryland Personal Injury Attorney for Help
Accidents can occur at any time and significantly impact your personal life or professional livelihood. If you were hurt because another person acted irresponsibly, they should be the ones who pay for the consequences of the accident.
Working closely with a skilled Maryland personal injury lawyer can be key to achieving the best possible result from your civil claim. During your case process, our legal team could assess the cause of the accident, collect evidence in favor of your claim, and negotiate with stubborn insurance providers. Call today to get started on seeking the compensation you need to get back on your feet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the most common questions people ask when considering filing a personal injury lawsuit in Maryland.
For most personal injury claims, the deadline set by the statute of limitations for when you must file suit is three years after the date of the accident. However, this rule changes slightly for certain types of personal injury cases. For example, the three-year filing period for a wrongful death claim starts on the decedent’s date of death rather than the date of their accident.
The discovery of harm rule is another important exception to the normal statute of limitations rule discussed above. If you do not discover that you suffered an injury until some time has passed after the incident that caused it, or if it takes a while for you to learn someone else’s negligence caused your injury, the starting point for the three-year filing period may be “tolled” until the point at which you make that discovery.
Yes, you can include physical pain and suffering as a compensable loss in a Maryland personal injury claim, alongside other non-economic damages like emotional anguish and psychological trauma. As explained in more detail above, though, Maryland state law limits the total amount of compensation you can demand for this sort of harm in a case.
A personal injury lawyer is a licensed legal professional who practices a subsection of law known as tort law and represents people injured in accidents caused by the negligent or intentional misconduct of others. Once retained, their main goal is to advocate on behalf of accident victims to ensure they are compensated fairly for any losses they have sustained due to the actions of another person, group, or company.
Price Benowitz has offices in multiple locations around the state of Maryland, including Baltimore, Bethesda, Frederick, and Upper Marlboro. Click here to find the street address and contact information for the office closest to you.
At Price Benowitz, our attorneys are paid on contingency, so they only receive payment if they obtain a settlement or damage award for the injured person they represent. Their fee is then taken out of the settled or awarded funds and can equate to anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of the total award, depending on the type of case. It is worth emphasizing, though, that personal injury lawyers usually include their compensation in the damages they demand from at-fault defendants. So, hiring legal counsel to help with a claim will not lead to an attorney taking money from you that you need to cover your losses.
In virtually every situation, getting help from qualified legal counsel will dramatically improve your chances of achieving a favorable result from a personal injury claim and obtaining comprehensive compensation for your damages. In brief, the answer to the question of whether retaining private legal representation is worth it for this sort of case is almost always yes.
Your first priority after being seriously injured in an accident caused by someone else should always be seeking immediate medical attention to minimize the chances that you suffer long-term physical harm. Once your condition is stable, you should contact a local personal injury lawyer to discuss your recovery options as soon as possible.
